We Will Be Heroes
by Kaleidophoenix
Summary: The evening after the events of Breach, Team RWBY is called on an urgent mission—to investigate the appearance of a mysterious source of energy. When they are thrown into a new world, they have to learn to survive. But things aren't as peaceful as they seem. What will be the consequences of their actions?
1. Volume 1: Portal

**Disclaimer: I do not claim to own any of the copyrighted material presented in this work.**

 **Volume 1: Portal**

* * *

 **Ruby vs...?**

* * *

I sat silently, watching the sunset fade. The layers of purple and orange sky were one of my favorite sights. A light breeze blew through my hair, bringing a fresh smell of leaves and pine needles from the forest below.

"Beautiful, isn't it?" said Weiss, as she sat down next to me.

I nodded. Today had been a tough day. Last night, we'd found the White Fang hiding in the Mountain Glenn, and Torchwick had been with them. We'd fought them on the train to prevent them from getting into the town, but they'd still made it inside, and dozens of people had been hurt by the Grimm insurgence.

I felt responsible. We hadn't been able to stop the train from crashing through the walled off portions of the tunnels that had led into the city. While no one from Vale had died, at least a few of the White Fang members had been eaten by Grimm. Torchwick had been caught, but I couldn't help but feel this was just the beginning.

Blake and Yang sat down a moment later. It still feels weird to be the leader. Especially with Yang. Sometimes it helps to have her on the team, and other times, it feels like I can't ever get away from her. Blake helps the most in that regard. She's always ready to follow orders, and gives the best advice when I need it.

I can remember one time after classes where I was really feeling the burden, and Blake came up to me and thanked me for all my hard work. She said that, quote, "She'd seen the burdens of leadership," and that, "Sometimes, you just need to let it all out. If you ever need someone to talk to, I'm here."

I haven't taken her up on her offer yet, but just knowing it's there helps.

I was about to speak, when my scroll rang. Yang raised an eyebrow. I shrugged, and answered.

It was Professor Ozpin.

"Good evening, Ruby."

"Evening, Professor."

"Sorry to call on you so late, but I have an urgent mission. Normally, I wouldn't ask you, but you're the only team I can call on right now. Could you and your team come up to the cafeteria?"

I looked at Weiss helplessly. Out of all of us, she seemed to be the most tired, but she was alert, just from Ozpin's voice. "Sure, Professor, just give us a minute."

"Thank you, Ruby, for your dedication. I'll see you in a minute."

The call ended, and I stood up. "Let's go see what he wants." I helped Weiss to her feet.

"What kind of mission do you think this could be, if he's calling on us?" asked Blake.

"It must be important, but not especially difficult, if he's calling on us now," guessed Weiss. "If it was too hard, he'd call in an experienced hunter team. We're just the most convenient."

"I sincerely hope that's the case," said Yang. "I don't know about you, but I'm beat. This had better be an easy in and outer."

It took two minutes to reach the cafeteria. Professor Ozpin was waiting for us when we got there, sitting on a table and sipping from his mug. A thermos stood on the table, but I had no idea what it was for.

"We're here, Professor," I said in a hopefully energetic voice.

"I know you must be tired right now, after your previous mission, but something has come up." He pulled out his scroll, and a holographic image appeared.

"A team of researchers detected a large energy reading this morning, just after the breach. This is the only image we have."

The hologram showed what appeared to be a large golden ring, about the size of a person. The interior of the ring was black and distorted.

"Your mission is to investigate this ring, and report back immediately." He took a sip of coffee. "I have a thermos of coffee here for you, to imitate what sleep cannot. I suggest taking a nap in the bullhead beforehand, as well."

"Thanks, Professor."

"The risk of Grimm on this mission is low, as we are fairly close to Vale, but be wary. I expect to hear from you in three hours, with another successful mission under your belt. Good luck."

He stood, giving a warm smile, and left. I grabbed the thermos and stuffed it into my bag. It was warm to the touch, and I could feel the energy it would give us even through the metal.

The mission plan was simple. We'd drop in from the bullhead, and get the data for the scientists, and walk back to the bullhead. There wasn't any easy landing place nearby, but it would only take about an hour on foot to reach the extraction point after the drop off.

I fell asleep almost as soon as we lifted off, and didn't wake until Weiss gently shook me ten minutes from the drop point.

"Do you think we'll need the coffee?" I asked. "I feel rested enough."

"Let's bring it along, just in case, but I don't think we need to break it out here," agreed Weiss.

Blake was reading another novel, one I didn't know the title of. Yang was sitting quietly, brow furrowed. I wondered what she was thinking about. She had been oddly quiet today, but I didn't know if that was from the mission or something else.

"We're at the drop point," said Dr. Naina. "The device should give you accurate enough readings to find it."

I looked at the device in my hand. It had a small display showing an arrow pointed mostly downward. The rest of my team stood up, ready to leap out. I slipped the device into my bag.

And then I leaped out of the plane.

Crescent Rose unfolded as I twirled it, ready to catch the first tree branch strong enough to hold my weight. I spotted an easy branch, and aimed myself towards it. My baby caught on and I spun around the tree branch once, twice, three times, shedding as much speed as I could each time around.

Folding it again briefly, I continued downward, catching two more branches, before landing softly on the pine needles littering the forest floor. Weiss came running up, Blake and Yang joining us moments later. I pulled the device out of my bag, showing the arrow pointing to the left.

"Let's get this over with," said Blake.

We took off at a light run, and found the ring in about a minute. The ring was made of pure gold, and encircled the distortion we'd seen on the hologram. "What is it?" I asked.

Weiss stepped closer to get a better look. Carefully running her finger along the outside of the ring, Weiss replied, "It's a golden ring. Quite well made, but other than that, I couldn't tell you anything about it. What does the device say?"

I looked at the display. "I'm holding the sensor towards the ring, but all I'm getting is a message that it's acquiring data."

Blake squinted, so I asked, "Do you see anything, Blake?"

"Nothing concrete, but there are subtle movements in the colors. It's almost as if this was some kind of screen, but with the display all distorted."

I looked closer at the distortion, and I saw the colors shifting. Like Blake said, it was subtle, but the more I looked at it, the more clearly I saw the image through the distortion.

Yang walked around to the other side. "It looks different on this side. Come see."

Blake and I walked around the ring and saw what Yang was talking about. It was clearly a different image. Something about it was off. I reached out my right hand, not to touch, but when my hand got close, the distortion rippled. Setting down the device, I put my hand into the distortion.

"Ruby!" exclaimed Weiss and Yang.

"I'm okay," I said. I was lying, but it was instinctive. I couldn't feel my hand at all. I tried to pull my hand out, but it felt like it was moving through molasses, and the distortion moved along with it. Just as it seemed like my hand would come out, the distortion enveloped me.

I screamed. I kicked and flailed about, and my foot struck the ground and I fell on my face. I pushed myself to a sitting position and glanced around. It was pitch black. I thought I could feel other presences, but I wasn't sure. A cold sensation ran up my right arm, and I shivered.

I touched my right hand, and it felt cold and unresponsive. I tried to flex my fingers, and they barely responded. I felt something brush by my ear, and I swatted at it, but found nothing. I looked around me, but I couldn't see anything. I put my hand to my face, but I couldn't see it move.

Again, I tried to move my hand, but it wouldn't move. I clutched it close to my chest. My arm felt cold and warm at the same time. The air was dank and frigid. I reached into my bag for my blanket and covered myself.

Tears began to run down my cheeks. I cried, clutching my unresponsive arm close, trying to convince myself that this was all a dream. We hadn't actually made it to the ring yet. I was still asleep in the bullhead. I pinched myself, but it didn't work. I didn't wake up. I was here, all alone.

* * *

 **Weiss vs. Zubat**

* * *

I stared in horror as Ruby was sucked up by the black distortion. My instincts were confused, telling me to run away and to rescue Ruby at the same time. So I did neither, frozen still.

"Ruby!" Blake had to physically hold Yang back from jumping into the portal after her. I came to my senses and got in front of her.

"Yang, you have to calm down!" I said. "Rushing in after her will accomplish nothing!"

"But…I can't loose her," whispered Yang.

"And you won't," I promised. "But we need to think before we act. The distortion only reacted when Ruby touched it. It's safe to assume that it won't do anything if we think for just a minute."

Yang nodded, wiping away some dampness from her eyes.

"The first order of business is to assure the completion of the mission," I began. Yang started to cut me off, but I held up a hand. "That's not difficult. All we need to do is get this back to the scientists."

I examined the device. "It will probably take about another three minutes or so to collect the data they need. We need to decide what to do in that time. We have a couple of options, and two objectives."

"Get Ruby back, and complete the mission," said Yang.

"Exactly. The first option is to do nothing, and return in three minutes. No go." Yang nodded emphatically.

"Second, we all go into the distortion. Risky, and puts the completion of the mission at…risk."

Yang snickered, and I glared briefly. "Third, we split up. Again, risky, and leaves too many unknowns."

"So we call for backup," said Blake.

"So we call for backup," I repeated. "Safest, and leaves us in a position to react if something goes wrong."

I pulled out my scroll, and dialed Dr. Naima. He picked up on the first ring. "Miss Schnee, report."

"Ruby touched the distortion inside the ring, and it reacted, and sucked her through the ring. She's disappeared, and we don't know where to. We're uncertain if this has caused any changes to the ring."

"…troubling. No other reaction, besides Ruby interacting with it?"

"None. It appears the same as it did when we arrived. It will take another two minutes for the device to finish collecting the data."

"Dialing Headmaster Ozpin now. Stay put until you receive further orders."

The line ended.

"So we wait?" asked Yang.

"We wait," I said. "Unless something happens to the…."

The ring had started rotating. "Weiss, what do we do?" asked Yang.

Once it made a full revolution, it began to shrink. "Go!" I said. I pressed the record button on my scroll and said, "Ring shrinking, going through!" before hitting the send button and dropping it on the ground. Yang had jumped through the ring, and Blake was climbing through. I noticed that the ring had stopped shrinking when they had been in contact with the distortion, so I stuck my hand in first.

The sensation is hard to describe. I lost all feeling in my hand, but the distortion around my wrist felt no different and like molasses at the same time. I hurriedly threw myself through the distortion, and hoped that I would make it.

"–ough in a moment."

I appeared in what seemed to be a cave. I didn't have much time to look before I fell to the ground, and bruised my knee. Yang was holding a flashlight, and sitting next to a smiling Ruby.

"Weiss!"

"Ruby!" Despite her being gone for only about three minutes, it was good to have her back.

"And it's completely gone now," said Blake. I looked behind me to see what Blake was talking about. I couldn't see anything, so I turned to her.

"The ring," she elaborated. "We now have no idea where we are or how to get back."

"Did you check your scroll?" I asked.

"No signal. Could mean anything."

I sighed. "So, Ruby, notice anything yet?"

"There's a time dilation between the two sides," she said. "Approximately twenty times faster on this side."

I ran that through my head. "So three seconds there was a minute here?"

Yang nodded. "I noticed it when Blake didn't come after me immediately. I asked Ruby how long she'd been here, and she said probably over an hour."

I winced. I hadn't meant to leave Ruby alone for that long, even unintentionally. "That's useful for us, though."

"Not really," said Blake. "Time dilation means nothing good. Sure, we might have more time here, but why? The two most plausible answers are both depressing."

"What would those be?"

"We're near a hyper-gravitational force like a black hole, or we've gone to a different dimension."

"Meaning that distortion was warping of space-time?"

"Even if it was just teleportation, it would involve warping of space-time."

"Wouldn't it be the opposite if we were near a hyper-gravitational force?" asked Yang. "Because time slows down when you reach speeds close to the speed of light."

"That's only been theorized," said Blake. "It could be the exact opposite."

"I think you were just reading too many sci-fi novels," said Yang. "You're just too much of a bookhole."

"That was terrible, Yang," I said. "One of your worst."

"Oh come on, at least I was trying!"

"You don't have to compare my reading habits to that of a black hole," said Blake.

"Actually, I was going more for the wormhole angle, but…."

"What are you guys saying?" wailed Ruby. We all looked at her. "You guys are going on about hyper-dimensional grocers and light speed, and I don't get it."

"Basically, because time flows differently on the two sides of the distortion, we're either on a faraway planet, or in another universe," said Blake.

Ruby's face fell. "Oh."

There was a long pause. "Does that mean we'll never get home?"

Blake shook her head. "Chances aren't good. We don't know what caused that distortion, but if we can recreate it, then we can get home."

I shivered. "So, where are we, then?"

Yang shined the flashlight around the cave. It was actually more of a cavern, with a higher ceiling and large open space. "Underground, most likely," said Blake.

Yang glanced at the wall. "If we're underground, it's really dry right now."

"Could be winter here."

"Please no," I said. "I don't have clothing for winter weather. I'm cold enough in here already."

"Let's start exploring," said Yang. "We need to get out of this cave, one way or another."

Blake tensed, and I reached for Myternaster. "Hear something?"

"It's probably nothing. Just a bat."

A dark streak flew past and Blake swatted it out of the air. The animal gave a pained screech. "Blake!" I exclaimed. I knelt down beside the animal, and Yang shone the light on it. The bat had a blue body and purple wings with no eyes and two stiff legs. One of its wings was bent at an odd angle.

"Poor thing. Probably best to put it out of its misery."

A faint bell sound chimed behind me. I turned and briefly saw a floating creature that darted from Yang's light.

"Yang, put that away," I said.

I turned back to the creature. "It's okay. You can come out. We won't hurt you."

It slowly came toward me. I motioned gently. It came into the light, and I gasped.

Immediately I was reminded of a wind chime. The head was large and spherical, resembling a bell. Its blue body was flat and elongated, which swayed gently back and forth.

The chime floated around me, showing concern for the bat. Then it began to sing.

As the notes rang through the cavern walls, I was startled to recognize the tune. It was the tune of my mother's music box, which she would wind before my bedtime and sing to. I started singing along with.

"My love, the sun is growing darker

In the trees, the birds take to their nest

Far above, the stars shine even brighter

Please now rest."

All while I was singing, the chime had glowed brightly, and a wave of pink energy wafted over the cavern. As the energy washed over me, I felt my bruises and aches disappear. I watched as the bat's wing, which had been bent and broken, snap back into place, leaving no trace of the injury.

The chime turned to me and tinkled, smiling. Blake asked, "What was that?"

"It was a song my mother used to sing to me before I went to bed. I haven't heard it in years, but I still remember it."

"It was beautiful," she murmured.

"Thank you." I meant it. I hadn't sung publicly for over a year now, and I was out of practice.

The chime had cocked its head curiously as we were talking. It bobbed closer to me, still tinkling. "It's okay," I said. "You can come here."

I motioned with my hand, and it brushed up against arm. The chime rang a clear, wistful note, which echoed into the distance. It smiled again, and rested against my shoulder.

"That's adorable," squealed Ruby.

"Now you have to name it," said Yang.

I rolled my eyes, but the suggestion wasn't a bad one. I thought about how the chiming sound had echoed in the cavern, and decided. "I'll call you Chimecho."

* * *

 **Blake vs. Machoke**

* * *

As Weiss played with her new pet, I felt a light breeze coming from the end of the cavern. I sniffed it, and it smelled fresh and crisp. "Do any of you feel that breeze?"

"Now that you mention it," said Yang. "Yes. I do."

"Let's go," said Ruby. I put a hand on her shoulder and smiled. With the time dilation, she had spent over an hour in the dark cave, alone. I knew she would appreciate the gesture. I glanced at her right hand, which was still slightly blue. Since she had stuck her hand in first, and for at least five seconds, it had been without air for that long.

Ruby saw my gaze and shrugged wistfully. She was holding up better than I thought. When she'd been selected as the leader of team RWBY, I had been a little skeptical. Would she be able to handle the responsibilities of being a leader? I gave her the benefit of the doubt, and so far, she had proven herself capable.

But now was the real test. And whether or not we pulled through, well…that was up to her.

Yang went first, holding the flashlight. The cave wound around to the left, and I saw light on the cave wall. Snow was scattered around the cave entrance, and cold gusts of air blew in, making me shiver.

"So it's winter here," said Weiss, rubbing her arms.

"Not necessarily," I said. "We could be on a mountain."

"With our luck, who knows," said Ruby. I glanced at her blanket enviously. I hadn't brought my bag with, thinking I wouldn't need it. I should have known that any mission we took wouldn't be that simple.

"We should go back inside," said Yang. "I think I speak for all of us when I say we're tired. We should probably set up a watch, too. Anyone actually have a watch?"

"I can set a timer on my scroll," I said. "I have enough power to last for a couple of days if I plan it right."

"We each take two and a half hour watches," said Ruby. "We're still exhausted from last night. No need to push ourselves. I can take first watch; I got the most sleep on the bullhead."

"I can take second watch, to help with the timer," I said.

"Last watch!" said Yang.

"Last watch, dangit Yang!"

I snickered, but as we made our way back into the cave, I wondered what tomorrow would bring. We were in a snowy area, without any equipment or food, and no way to contact anyone. We could only last so long here.

I set the timer for Ruby, and made myself as comfortable as I could. The ground was cold and hard, though Ruby's bag made a decent pillow. Ruby gallantly gave up her blanket for Weiss and Yang, wrapping her cloak tightly around herself. Despite the conditions, I fell asleep quickly. I really was exhausted. It had been one long day.

My watch couldn't move any quicker. Time seemed to crawl in here, in spite of the time dilation. I kept wondering how, and why. Why had we been the ones to get caught in this? How had this even happened? So far, all we knew was that the ring had appeared, giving off lots of energy. Then when we had gone through, there had been a time dilation.

There weren't a lot of clues. Was this the work of a semblance? Some rogue on their own? Were they connected to the White Fang? What if this really was a different dimension? Had this been some experiment gone wrong? If so, why had the end destination been here? What was so special about a cave?

I had so many questions, and it would be difficult to even answer one of them. So far, the biggest clue we had was the chime-like creature Weiss had befriended. Nothing like it existed on Remnant. It bore none of the marks of a Grimm, and had even demonstrated healing powers.

All in all, we were in a terrible situation. I couldn't see any easy way out, barring a miracle of some sort.

Then I heard faint footsteps coming from the cave entrance. Slowly, I unsheathed Gambol Shroud, careful not make any noise. The footsteps grew closer, until I could see the dim outline of a man. I relaxed somewhat.

"Hello?" I called out softly. The man started. He was short and stocky, with overdefined musculature. "Can you understand me?"

The man crept closer. I poured aura into my eyes, to sharpen my vision even further. I nearly squeaked in surprise.

It wasn't a man coming closer; it was an alien. I knew I should have expected it, but it still bothered me when I saw it. It had a reptilian face, and three ridges on the top of its head. All it seemed to be wearing was a pair of underwear. For an alien, its body structure was remarkably like a human's, though Galaxy Adventure should have taught me that. Perhaps this was a superior race, one that had been the origins of humans? Or maybe it was this universe's closest equivalent to a human, and they had been searching for us all this time.

Whatever the case, I needed to communicate somehow. I wasn't sure how they communicated, or their level of night vision, but I also wasn't sure how it would react to me turning on a flashlight. There were far too many unknowns here. I wasn't even sure if they communicated verbally!

But this might also be the only chance we had to survive. We couldn't last more than five days with our limited supplies, and whatever this being had, it had to be better than what we did.

The being seemed oddly tense, like it was seeing something it didn't understand. Quite possibly, it didn't know what I was, either. Perhaps aura might help. It might not be able to understand me with words or gestures, but I might be able to convey my emotions through my aura.

I guided my aura towards the being, a white, hazy trail of pure aura emitting from my hand. This spooked the being, and it retreated towards the door. I let my aura dissipate. "Wait! Please don't go!"

But it was too late. The being had run off. I had scared away our first chance of survival. I wasn't desperate enough to think it was our only chance, but certainly not the best first meeting.

I shivered as I wrapped my arms around me. A blast of cold air had just entered the cave, further emphasizing my mistake. The last portion of my watch went by uneventfully, and all I could do was think about how I had messed up. I had made assumptions, and it had cost me. I wasn't even sure if the being would understand aura.

I woke Weiss. "Watch for a humanoid," I said. "One came in the cave about half an hour ago. I tried to communicate through aura, but it scared him off."

She rubbed her eyes. "Any distinguishing features?"

"Short, stocky; had three ridges on its head."

"It's not your fault, Blake," she whispered.

I didn't reply, instead showing her how to use the timer app, and curled up on Ruby's bag. Whether or not Weiss was right, thinking about this further would have to wait until morning.

* * *

 **Yang vs. Bronzong**

* * *

Weiss woke me up by pulling the blanket from over me. I spluttered for a moment, and regained my bearings. I wasn't at home, or Beacon. I was in a cave on a different planet. The thought depressed me.

"Blake spotted an alien on her watch. She said it was short and stocky, with three ridges on its head."

This, however, was good news. "So it was humanlike?"

Weiss shrugged. "She didn't give any other details, so I assume yes. But it ran off when Blake tried to use her aura to communicate."

"So aura is a no-no."

"She didn't seem to take that well. She probably thought it was all her fault it ran off."

That was one of Blake's biggest flaws. She tended to take everything on herself, and when stuff went wrong, blamed herself for it. "We'll talk about it in the morning. Good night, Weiss."

She made herself comfortable under the covers, leaving me to my thoughts. My thoughts drifted to the happenings of the previous day.

Of all the things I remember, the moment when I woke up after getting knocked out against the umbrella user is the least defined and most important. I remember seeing a woman, cloaked in red and wearing a Nevermore mask, disappearing through a portal.

She had to be connected to me somehow, because she had rescued me. I had a hope, a faint, distant, expectant hope, that she was my mother. Or at least connected to her in some way. In that brief moment, I had felt a connection, one I had only felt with one other person on the planet–Summer. Ruby's mother.

The hours ticked by, though I didn't monitor the timer. I could just feel the minutes go, second by second, waiting in this frozen cave. I pitied Blake, because out of all of us, she had the least protection from the cold. We all needed to find someplace safer.

Maybe it was the extended fight yesterday, or that we were in a new environment, but I felt drained. Drained, and wanting to rest. I hadn't felt this way before. Not since I got lost with Ruby when I was six. This whole place made me feel uneasy. Like there was a greater power here that was best left alone.

I was interrupted from my thoughts by the appearance of three large bells. They seemed to be moving on their own power, and floated above the ground, completely silent. I honestly wasn't sure how to react. These had come out of nowhere, and didn't seem to be hostile. I watched them carefully. Who knows what these bells could do. After all, the wind chime creature had been able of producing a healing aura.

That was probably the biggest question I had right now. What kind of life lived here? I had seen three examples so far, if counting the giant bells. Blake had seen a humanlike creature, though it had run off. I couldn't explain its behavior without seeing the event, but it had me wondering. Were there even Grimm here? It was hard to imagine a world without the constant threat of the Grimm. We were likely somewhere in the wilderness, not too close to civilization.

Then again, speculation wasn't really helpful. We could speculate all we want, and it wouldn't change the realities before us. We were lost, brought to an unknown location by a method that strongly implied purpose. Again, we could speculate on all the different ways it could have happened, but in the end, did it really matter?

The timer on Blake's scroll went off, and I roused the rest of my team. "Wakey wakey!"

"Giant purple pancake-men!" shouted Ruby. She glanced about the cave wildly.

"It was just a dream, Ruby," I said.

"You don't know that," she retorted. "You weren't there."

"What's the plan?" asked Weiss.

Ruby shook herself awake. "We go exploring. But first, we need to go over what we have. I have my bag, but what did you all bring with you?"

"I have my pack with emergency rations, extra water bottle, and dust cartridges." Weiss stroked the length of Chimecho's body. "I have enough food for about–"

She paused to calculate. "Five days, if we stretch it. We'll need water before that, but we won't be egregiously hungry for five days."

"I left my bag on the other side of the portal," said Blake. "I had some other supplies, like matches, more rations, a blanket, and some other necessities, but I don't have it."

"I did too," I said. "Had the usual things, but since I don't have it, it doesn't matter."

"I have the blanket," said Ruby, folding up the cloth, "some matches, Crescent Rose's mobile repair kit, and a compass, but no food. Oh, and Ozpin's thermos."

Weiss passed me a granola bar. "The compass is helpful," said Blake. "But what is our main objective with our exploring?"

"We need to know what kind of place we are at right now," I said. "We also can't stay here very long; we'll run out of food."

Blake sighed. "I'm not sure how helpful that'll be. On my watch last night, I saw a being that resembled a short, stocky man. I tried to communicate to him through aura, but that scared him off. Did he reappear?"

"No."

"No, though I saw something else during my watch," I said, crunching on the overly hard granola bar.. "There were these three giant bell-like things that floated past. They didn't make any kind of sound, and didn't seem to notice me at all."

"Anyone else?" asked Ruby. "No? Was there anything that stood out to you about him, Blake?"

"Well, he only wore a piece of underwear, so he's good in the cold. His face looked reptilian, and he had three ridges on his head. He was also pretty muscular."

"That's not a lot to go on," said Weiss. "I'm not sure there's a lot we can do about this. If this is a civilized species, then there should be some signs of their dwellings close by."

"We don't know how remote this area is," countered Blake. "This might be a hermit, and we just scared him off."

Ruby chewed on her granola bar thoughtfully. "We really shouldn't make assumptions either way. We already know where the cave entrance is, so let's see what's out there."

"What if the portal reopens?" I asked. "We can't rule out that possibility either."

"There isn't a lot we can do about that," said Blake. "And taking some action is better than no action."

"What if we left a message?"

"What would we say?" asked Weiss.

"How about our team name? Easy enough to recognize, and if we put an arrow pointing to where the exit is, they can follow us."

"That covers that," said Ruby.

"How will we leave the message?" asked Weiss.

"We could carve it into the ground," suggested Ruby.

"With what?" asked Blake.

Ruby froze.

"You were thinking of Gambol Shroud, weren't you?"

She nodded.

Blake unsheathed her Variant Ballistic Chain Scythe. "Fine, I'll do it."

She began carving into the stone, and I covered my ears to block out the shrill screech of steel on stone. It took her about a minute. Ruby passed me Ozpin's thermos, and I took an experimental sip.

While the coffee was cold, I could feel energy seep back into areas I didn't realize were tired. The slight headache I had disappeared, leaving me with clearer thoughts than before. "Wow," was all I could say.

"Figured we could break it out now," said Ruby. "Makes you wonder what Professor Ozpin feels like all day."

After Blake had finished carving our team initials into the ground, we walked to the exit. Weiss and I devised a brilliant plan to stay warm, and wrapped the blanket around ourselves, and matched each other, pace for pace. I had to take smaller strides to stay even with Weiss's shorter legs, but I was definitely warmer. Chimecho floated alongside us, chiming amiably.

Outside the cave, we stood on a ledge overlooking the mountain slope below us. The sun shone brightly in the east. We were near the summit of the mountain, and I could see smaller mountains to the north and south. To my left, I saw an area of downed forest covered in snow that extended down the mountain.

"Do you see any signs of civilization?" asked Weiss.

I gazed over the amazing view once again. "Nope."

"Looks like they had an avalanche recently," said Blake. "Think we should take a closer look?"

"If there was an avalanche recently, then the ground might still be unstable," said Weiss. "I wouldn't recommend it."

"Ruby, what do you think?" I asked.

Ruby's eyes wandered over the area. "How recent do you think this avalanche was?"

Weiss said, "It's hard to tell without getting closer, but it definitely happened more than a couple of days ago. The snow has melted towards the bottom of the avalanche."

"So people who would have been caught in it would have been found already." The way Ruby said it, it wasn't a question.

"Most likely," said Weiss.

"We'll walk along the edge," decided Ruby. She smiled. "Let's go!"


	2. Volume 2: Trials

**Volume 2: Trials**

* * *

 **Ruby vs. Monferno**

* * *

I took point as we skirted the edges of the avalanche's path. We traveled in relative silence. After all, what was there to talk about? That left me to my thoughts. Again.

I had already thought long and hard during my watch last night, and less I mentioned the hour between me arriving and Yang arriving, the better. I had shut down, and though I expect I would've booted back up again eventually, having Yang, Weiss, and Blake by me gave me that extra boost of confidence.

But my thoughts had mainly been about Beacon, the breach in Vale, and the White Fang. Something didn't sit right with me. We had caught Torchwick, yes, but I still wondered about his accomplice when I had first met him. She had been powerful enough to ward off Professor Goodwitch, and that was worrying.

"Eep!"

The soft snow gave way beneath my feet, plunging me deep into the snow. I had been so engrossed in my thoughts I hadn't watched my footing. While I was familiar with snow, I hadn't ever seen snow so deep, and I wasn't sure how best to stay on top of it. I'd heard stories from Dad about wintry storms and feet upon feet of snow in the north, but all I had to compare it too was the occasional dusting of snow.

But now I was shoulder deep in the powder. Before today, I didn't even know you could describe snow that way. I tried to think about the best way to get out. Blake and Yang came on either side of me and grabbed me under the armpits. In one motion, they pulled me out.

We lay on our backs for a moment. I started laughing, and soon we all were. The situation was so silly and mundane, it was funny.

After we settled down, Weiss said, "We need to be a bit more careful. That could have been a lot worse."

Blake nodded. "We need to get out of this snow. Any misstep and we could start another avalanche."

Yang stretched out with a sigh. "It's our footing that's most important here."

"I could use my semblance," suggested Weiss. "It'd give us solid enough support."

"That might work." Yang glanced down the mountain. "How far could you take us? The snow still goes for a ways."

"Maybe halfway? I'm not sure of the distance, but I think I can make it that far."

"Alright," I said. "We go until Weiss says stop. Then we'll take a break for lunch."

Weiss unsheathed Myrtenaster, and focused her aura, forming one of her signature glyphs on the surface of the snow. Standing, I watched as Weiss formed another. We continued hiking down.

Normally, Weiss's glyphs had effects she powered with dust, but one of her basic patterns allowed her to walk on air. She didn't use it much, generally preferring to use the more advanced form, which sprung the user when activated. But this pattern was far more energy efficient.

We walked slowly, so as not to overtax her. She put up a strong face, but I could see the exhaustion begin to wear on her. After maybe an hour, I gave the order for a rest.

Weiss gave me a small smile, which I returned. She passed out the rations, and we munched in silence.

A screech came from the tree line, and I turned to see a monkey with a flaming tail run towards us. I put a hand next to Crescent Rose, but the monkey's expression of pure joy confused me. It came about ten feet from us, and stopped, staring at Yang.

It started to cry.

Startled, I looked at Yang. She was as confused as I. Slowly, she beckoned for the monkey to come closer. It hesitated, and she opened up her arms. The monkey leapt into them, and continued to cry.

"There, there," said Yang.

Weiss leaned toward Blake. "What do you think is wrong?"

"It seemed like it recognized Yang. Maybe it thought she was someone else?"

"That would mean that humans exist here."

"That's not impossible," said Blake. "We just haven't had any evidence for such until now."

The monkey's sobs quieted. It took a few deep breaths, and stepped back. It wiped its eyes clear of tears. Then it opened its mouth and it glowed with heat. Flames burst forth into the air. It stopped the flames, and started punching.

With one final punch, it screamed as loud as it could, and sat down dejectedly. Yang walked over and put a hand on its shoulder.

"I'm sorry, but I'm not the person you're looking for," she said.

The monkey shook its head, and smiled sadly. Its tail flame changed, until it became a person's face, looking remarkably like Yang's. The image shifted, showing the girl lying under a pile of snow, and completely still.

Weiss's hand went to her mouth. A chill went down my spine, unrelated to the frosty air. Yang pulled the monkey back into a hug. It stiffened, but melted back into her arms.

"You can come with us, if you like," she said.

The monkey tilted its head. Yang started walking away, motioning for it to follow. Understanding dawned, and the monkey's eyes widened. It ran up to her, and stuck its hand into hers.

Blake and I shared a glance. What was it about these creatures that made them so entrancing? This was the second one to join our company. I mean, both the monkey and Chimecho are cute, but to come with us without a second thought seemed unusual. I had a feeling we were missing something big. There was so much we didn't know about where we were, and these creatures had a big part to play.

But if there was one thing the fire monkey had done, it was ignite the spark of hope. It had proved that other humans lived here, and that excited me. All we had to do was search for the nearest town or city.

"Come on," I said. "Let's go!"

* * *

 **Weiss vs. Zangoose**

* * *

I exhaled. I had never pushed myself to my utmost limits before, and now I was doing that. Normally, I would use my semblance between five to ten times a day, mostly focusing on the complexity and usage of it, rather than repeated exercises. I was regretting that now. I had lost count after about a hundred uses, and I suspected it was now over four hundred.

Despite the simple pattern, each use was now excruciating. I was running low, but I wasn't about to admit it. The break for lunch had been over three hours ago now, and we still were far away from the mountain. The sun was still overhead, at least six hours from dusk. The air was still cold, and the mix of shivers and phantom pains was the most unpleasant experience I'd ever had in my life.

Chimecho had noticed my exhaustion, and about an hour ago, had periodically used its healing aura on me. She only used it every ten minutes, and I went those ten minutes yearning for the next use.

I hid my fatigue from my teammates, and kept plodding along. Ruby was as energetic as ever, always straining the limits of my range. Today had been the first time I used more than two glyphs at the same time, and now that I had done it, I had started to go through battle combinations and attack routines.

The only time I really used the glyph I was using for this was for Ruby to bounce off of, and I was already thinking of ways to reduce the complexity of the glyph. I hadn't experimented yet, because I was wary of using an untested glyph in an unsafe environment.

I stumbled. I caught on Ruby's arm. "Are you okay, Weiss?"

I waved it off. "I'm fine."

"You don't look fine. You're paler than usual." Ruby put a hand to my forehead. "You're burning up. Weiss, turn off your aura."

"I'm okay," I said. "I can keep going."

"Blake, check her aura levels."

I put up my hand, but Blake scanned me with her scroll. "She's running on empty. Has been for the last hour, at least."

Ruby whitened. "Weiss, stop. Lay down. Turn off your aura."

"I'm fine," I slurred. "Just gotta reach the bottom."

Ruby put my water bottle to my lips. I accepted the water, coughing as I swallowed. Bile rose in my throat, but I forced it down. I heard Ruby's voice, and then Yang's concerned words, but I couldn't understand.

I blinked, and Ruby's face swam in my vision. Her face was oddly purple, and the snow was too green to be real. I tried to say something, to tell Ruby I was fine, but the words just wouldn't come out right. Colors and sounds merged into an unholy conglomeration. Then, mercifully, everything went black.

When I woke up, I was laying next to a fire. Blake sat, casually poking the coals and sending tiny sparks into the clearing. The faint dancing light of the fire contrasted the twinkling mass of stars overhead. I looked for the familiar constellations, but none appeared.

I tried to sit up, but Blake caught the movement and eyed me. I lay back down.

"We were all worried, you know."

I tried to think of something to say to defend my actions, but I couldn't think of anything.

"You had a case of extreme aura exhaustion. You were pulling energy from your body to produce aura. Chimecho was using its healing technique on you, but that doesn't restore your aura, it just rejuvenates your body."

I just stared into the fire. I didn't–couldn't–defend myself.

"You've been sleeping for a day and a half now. We tried to get some water into your system, but you'll need to hydrate yourself well."

She moved my water bottle close to me, and I drank. I hadn't even realized how thirsty I was until she had mentioned it.

"I'm sorry," I whispered.

Blake looked up at the stars.

"We all make mistakes."

The fire crackled. I closed my eyes, thinking about home.

Home was a strange word, and one I had rejected for many years. I had lived in my father's house, but it was never home. Not since Mother died. But during my time at Beacon, I had discovered the closest thing to it. A group of friends, each clinging to a dream, the dream of being a huntress.

Dr. Oobleck had challenged that dream not two–no, three–nights ago, and I had once again thought over why I wanted to be a huntress. My answer hadn't changed. I had power, and the responsibility to uphold that power. But in all honesty, that answer had felt hollow. It may have been the initial reason I became a huntress, but it felt like empty words now.

What had changed? Why had those words, recited to anyone who asked, become the husk they were? I had reflected on this inconclusively, and I still didn't have an answer.

But maybe it had to do with the word home. The only other word that I can think of with as much casual power is love. It has so many meanings and subtleties, but home is simple. The meaning behind it–a place where you belong–had never resonated with me. My house was empty, devoid of the value and cherishing of home. Was there a place I cherished?

No.

I had people I cherished.

Winter. Mother. Ruby. Blake. Yang. I cherished each of them. Home is where the heart is. So the saying went. But could people be home?

I looked back over to Blake. She had tensed up.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

"There's a creature that keeps trying to steal our food. He's come back a few times, but he hasn't come close yet. He knows I'm watching him, so he hasn't made any moves."

I followed Blake's gaze and saw a pair of red eyes in the trees. It blinked twice, and retreated. I only caught a glimpse of white fur, and it was gone.

"You should get some more sleep," said Blake. "We want to get a move on in the morning, and you're still recovering."

I wanted to protest, but took her advice. I had just proved I couldn't be trusted when it came to my health. I turned over, and sleep came.

Ruby gently shook me awake just after dawn. I got a double portion of food, to make up for lost meals, and extra water. Yang had spent most of the previous day trying to name the monkey, and discovering his actual intelligence level.

"He already had a name. It was discovering it that was the problem. So I taught him to read."

"You taught the monkey how to read?" That was surprising.

"He caught on real quick, too. The writing system here is kind of weird. Instead of an alphabet, they have each character represent a syllable."

"Wait, you're learning how to read from a monkey?"

"His name's Hosaki. He writes his name like this." Yang drew out three symbols–ホサキ. "What's weird is that he can't speak the language. My hypothesis is that it's the language known by the humans, and he's learned how to read from Mitsumi."

"Mitsumi?"

"The girl who looks like me." Yang wrote three more symbols on the ground–ミツミ. "Anyway, it took him a bit to figure out how our alphabet worked, but caught on quick after that. He's a clever one, when he isn't monkeying around."

I didn't laugh at Yang's joke, but what she'd learned intrigued me. "Did you learn anything else?"

"Not really. But I think I have enough to learn a ton of new things."

Yang was grinning. I can't recall her ever being so excited before. "You're really into this," I said.

"Yeah. Language is actually my favorite subject."

"Really?"

"You have a problem?"

"No, it's just…." I paused. "I didn't expect this from you."

Yang rubbed her nose. "People always say that when they find out."

"I guess I just never really got into language myself. There's no reason to speak other languages than Valic. It's going to come in handy now, though. I'm glad you have an interest in it."

Yang smiled again. "Thanks, Weiss."

"You're welcome."

"It's so _meaningful_ to me."

"Ugh."

"Got you."

"Next time, you polyglot."

"… actually, I only speak three languages. I'm trilingual, not a polyglot."

"She's always technical about that," said Ruby.

"Whatever," I said. "What's on the agenda for today?"

"More walking. Weiss, you aren't allowed to use your semblance; your aura levels are still lower than normal."

"Yes Ruby."

"Move out gang!"

* * *

 **Blake vs. Ursaring**

* * *

"And that's the last of our food," said Weiss. I looked at the meager pile of granola bars, dried fruit, and beef jerky.

While I was used to going without meals, none of my teammates were. While our aura would keep us going longer than most, we needed to find another source of sustenance soon, or we'd die.

We'd made it out of the snowy area, and into the warmer levels of the mountain. We had made it into a valley area, with several mountains to the north and south. I couldn't see any snow on these mountains, which was a relief, because I was sick of the snow. Vegetation covered the ground, greens and browns replacing the white. Pines dominated, with the occasional oak or walnut. I was rather surprised by the similarity in the flora; while there were some differences, the basic structure was the same.

If we really had crossed dimensions, then why was this so similar? I knew I shouldn't be complaining, because the similarities made it much easier to determine which plants were safe to eat. I'd had some training while I was in the White Fang about wilderness survival, so I was fairly confident in my plant identification skills.

"We'll need to find food, then," I said. "I had some training while I was in the White Fang, and the flora is similar enough I could find some things to eat."

Weiss swallowed the last bite of her granola bar. "What's your plan, then?"

My cat ears twitched. "I'm thinking about maybe two hours or so. It'd probably be better if I went by myself."

Ruby shook her head. "There's no way we're letting you go off alone. We can split into pairs, though."

"That's fine," I said. It would mean I could carry more. "Ruby, you want to come? We can let Yang watch over Weiss."

"I don't need a minder," retorted Weiss.

I looked at Ruby, and then to Yang. Weiss's overexertion was still clear in our minds.

"Weiss," began Yang, but she cut her off.

"I get it, alright!" Weiss threw up her hands. "I messed up. But you don't have to keep acting like I'm going to do that again if you leave me alone for one second!

She quieted down. "I'm just as much a part of this team as you are. I thought that part of being a team is trust. I get that I made a mistake. We all do. But I guess I'm too much of a burden for you."

Ruby placed a hand on Weiss's shoulder. "You're wrong, Weiss. We don't think you're a burden. You are a vital part of Team RWBY. But we couldn't be Team RWBY without you. That's why we're trying so hard to help you. A team without you is unthinkable."

The corner of her mouth curled upward. "Thanks, Ruby."

I stood up. "Let's get going, Ruby."

We agreed to meet up at the same spot and set off into the forest. Ruby had emptied her bag back at the campsite and was ready to help me, energetically pointing out plants and asking what they were.

After about twenty plants, she would try and guess some of their properties. She never got any of them right, but a few times she came close. She always was able to pick the plant out again after learning it. But she caught my attention when she pointed out a berry bush. Surprisingly, it had a few berries on it, despite the cold temperatures.

"I have never seen a berry like this before," I admitted. The bush had red leaves, resembling a pine tree in structure. The berries were round and yellow with green circles across the berry, and upon further inspection, quite firm. I wasn't willing to try it without evidence of its safety, but it was too good a find to leave alone, so I picked several and put them into the bag.

A rustling from the right broke me from my thoughts, and a small bear emerged from the bushes, munching on one of the berries. While it alleviated my concerns about the berries, its presence had me on edge. Something this young could only have the mother somewhere nearby.

"Ruby," I began, "I think we should start–"

A rumbling roar resounded through the thicket, and I spun on my heels to find the source. The mother bear was standing upright, staring me in the eye. "–run!" I finished. The mother bear charged, and I found myself unable to follow my own advice. At the final moment, my body responded and I leaped out of the way, tumbling to gain distance. The bear turned and charged again, its arms glowing white with energy. I sidestepped its swing, and shielded my face when dirt flew from the impact.

I backpedaled, trying to get as far away as I could. The bear started gathering energy in its mouth, and I paled. Using my semblance, I slipped behind a tree, and watched as my body double was annihilated. The energy blast tore into a tree, felling it and the shattering the rock behind it.

I glanced about for Ruby, and found her holding onto her bag, backing away slowly from the cub. The mother bear glared its hardest, but Ruby kept eye contact and continued retreating. I leapt into a tree and hopped from branch to branch, making my way toward Ruby. The bear had advanced a few steps, but when it deemed Ruby to no longer be a threat, it ate one of the berries straight from the bush.

"That was close," I said to Ruby after we were a comfortable distance from the bears. "When I saw that energy blast, I got a little worried."

"I certainly wouldn't want to be on the receiving end of that," she agreed. "Still, at least we have the berries."

She pulled out the bag, and I picked one out and plopped it into my mouth. The berry was tough, like I had expected, but it was far tarter than I thought it would be. I coughed a little, and swallowed.

"Fair warning, it's a bit sour," I said, clearing my throat.

She took a bite, and her face scrunched together. "You weren't kidding when you said it was sour." She jiggled her face and plopped the rest in one gulp. "Let's not tell Weiss and Yang they're sour," she said. "It'll be funny."

I smiled. "It sure will."

I took a moment to examine my surroundings. A light fog had rolled in, covering the sun. Tall grass met trees nearby, the field stretching out into the unseen. I turned to Ruby, to tell her to stay put, and didn't find her. "Ruby?"

I groaned. "Ruby!"

"I'm over here!" she shouted back.

"Come back! We can't go anywhere in the fog. It's too easy to get lost."

"Sure! Uh–ow!"

"Ruby!"

"I'm fine, I just tripped over a root. Give me a…." Her voice trailed off. "Blake! You gotta come here and see this!"

"What is it, Ruby?" I was getting a little annoyed. I hated fog, because it was the only time I couldn't see well, and it was getting thicker by the second.

"Just come here!"

I groaned again, and headed towards where her voice had come from. "This had better be good, Ruby!"

"Just hurry up! It's almost hatched."

Hatched? Oh no.

I arrived on the scene to see the green eggshell break open, revealing the creature within. It's strange to describe, as it reminded me of a giant bug, but the legs were far too stout. Its arms were membrane-like blades, but looked as hard as steel. The bug was staring at Ruby, who smiled back.

"Uh, Ruby, we should go."

"But isn't it so cute?"

"Yeah, but we don't want to get caught by its parents. Do you see the arms on that thing?"

"Relax, Blake. We'll be fine."

A rush of air and a blur was all I had time to register before I ducked back and unsheathed Gambol Shroud. The papa was back, and he was angry. He jittered and clicked at Ruby, and lunged, arm blade extended.

* * *

 **Yang vs. Staravia**

* * *

"So what are we going to do while they're gone?" asked Weiss.

I patted Hosaki on the head. "I'm going to have fun with this guy."

He grinned. I was again struck by how humanlike his mannerisms were. He'd probably been raised by humans all his life, but it still surprised me. But what I was most interested in right now was his aura-like capabilities. So I activated my semblance, my soul expressing itself through heat.

Hosaki narrowed his eyes for a moment, so I pointed at him, and smiled. Heat began to radiate from his body, and flames began to spurt from his fur in various places. My grin grew wider.

The hardest part about this was making sure I didn't put the wrong message across. I didn't want to hurt him or punish him, but I wanted to see what he could do. I settled into a loose fighting stance and waited.

Hosaki punched the air, and looked me in the eye. I nodded, smiled, and said, "Spar."

His fist shone with energy, and he launched towards me. His fist blurred and I blocked, only to find myself pushed back a foot. I grinned and attacked. I put him on the defensive, but his technical style was spectacular. He was giving me flashbacks to Ren in his discipline. Only Hosaki's style was far more aggressive.

I quickly deduced that when his fists glowed, it indicated that his fist would come in faster than normal. Right now, we were only testing the other's limits, pulling our punches, but that would change as we grew more comfortable in the spar.

It was tough, fighting someone so much shorter than myself. Hosaki was probably only about three feet tall, and despite the height difference, he was proving himself. But the spar got good when he breathed a lick of flame to corner me. I wasn't sure about his abilities with fire, but I knew that I wouldn't be affected by it.

So I stepped into the flame to avoid his next blow. Like I suspected, the flames didn't burn me, but I could feel a faint bit of heat, so I knew it had to be hot. I kicked, aiming for his side.

Hosaki crouched down and took the blow, absorbing as much of the impact as he could with his knees. I hadn't noticed his switch between offense and defense. He grabbed onto my leg and twisted lightly, just putting enough pressure to strain my muscles.

I breathed in and out a few times, taking the break, despite the wrenching ache in my leg. I channeled extra aura into my knee ligaments, and punched the ground. I flew up, my aura stretching my ligaments so I wouldn't break my knee, and escaped from Hosaki's hold. I grabbed onto the tree branch above me, holding on for only a moment, just enough to swing my leg up and place it against the trunk.

Then I pushed off, arm drawn and taut. Hosaki stepped aside, and I flipped, sliding into the ground. I charged, but Hosaki was ready for me. Because of the dust I had kicked up, all I could hear was a faint hum of energy.

I burst through the cloud of dust. My punch missed, and he capitalized on it, jabbing his crackling fist into my gut.

A strange sensation swept through my body. I felt overcharged, and my muscles weren't responding well. I tried to stand up, but my left leg collapsed beneath me. Weiss ran over and asked, "What's wrong?"

"I can't move my leg," I slurred. Internally, I cursed. The paralysis was even affecting my speech.

"What did you do?" Weiss whirled on Hosaki. He shrunk back.

"Weiss, it's okay," I said. "It wasn't intentional."

Chimecho, who had been resting on Weiss's shoulder, rose, and gave a clear, echoing ring. Instantly, I could feel my muscles respond as usual. Some of the tiredness that had persisted also was gone. Extra clarity in my thoughts I didn't know I could have.

I stood back up, and patted Hosaki on the back. "Good job."

Turning to Weiss, I said, "He's good. I'm not sure why he's trained to fight like this, but his style is well built. He knew where his openings were, and compensated. Clearly he hasn't been monkeying around with his training."

Weiss sighed. "So could he beat you or not?"

"That depends," I replied. "If he can pull off a repeat with that paralysis attack, then he could beat me no problems, but if I get enough hits I think I could beat him."

"His techniques are certainly interesting," said Weiss. "It makes me wonder what kind of semblance he has."

"I'm not sure if he had a semblance," I said. "It felt to me more like direct aura manipulation."

"Direct aura manipulation? That's difficult stuff Yang, and he's got elements he's using."

"Doesn't make it any less possible," I countered. "His energy punches were more than the standard aura enhanced punch."

I reactivated my semblance, as Hosaki's paralysis had interrupted my concentration, and upped my aura's output. Hosaki poured out more of his aura, and I took the chance to analyze it. With extra aura in my eyes, I could more clearly see what he was doing. His body had a lot of aura, and he was channeling it throughout his body to pour out more heat.

I focused more of my aura into one hand. Hosaki got the hint, and covered his fist in aura. But as it reached there, it underwent a slight change. My aura sensing abilities weren't the greatest, but I could tell the difference between what Hosaki was doing and regular aura.

I mimicked his fire breathing earlier, and he exhaled a wave of flames. Again, there was a clear change in his aura, but it was much more noticeable. I could see the change he was initiating in his aura, but I had no idea how to apply it. I turned to Weiss. "He's definitely doing aura manipulation, but I can't really follow it."

Weiss nodded. "I'm not sure how we can do it either. It'll take a lot of practice and experimentation."

"Well, no time like the present." I grabbed a stick and drew on the ground a picture of someone breathing fire, and another picture beside it with someone breathing a smaller amount of fire. I tapped the person with the smaller flame, and Hosaki nodded. He emitted a smaller amount of flames, and we both concentrated on how he did it.

We kept it up for about half an hour, observing Hosaki's flames carefully. Occasionally, we'd try to make that change in our aura as well, but so far, we hadn't succeeded. Once, I thought I'd managed to get my aura to heat up, but Weiss had said she couldn't see any difference in the aura.

Once Hosaki got tired, we stopped, and I began language lessons. I chose mainly actions and nouns, with the occasional adjective to help it along. He picked it up quickly, and would write down the equivalent in his own language, and I'd write it down in the notebook I always kept with me.

Several times, I would look up and see birds in the air. It was hard to identify them from far away, but one got close, and I was able to see the gray and white wings, and the plume of feathers on top of its head. Time seemed to pass slowly.

Finally, I said, "Don't you think it's time for them to come back yet?"

"They might have gotten held up. We can afford to wait about another hour or so."

I looked up at the now cloudy sky. "I'm not so sure. The fog is moving in."

"All the more reason to stay here. If they haven't gotten lost in it already, then they'll have bunkered down until it passes. There isn't a lot we can do about it."

"Maybe it would have been better if we had stuck together."

Weiss shrugged. "Maybe, maybe not. Either way, we shouldn't go anywhere until it goes away."

"I hope they're all right."

"Me too."


	3. Volume 3: Unknowns

**Volume 3: Unknowns**

* * *

 **Ruby vs. Scyther**

* * *

I ducked the swipe and unfolded Crescent Rose. The father, or what I assumed it to be, was taller, sleeker, and angrier. It gave me no respite, and charged, slicing through the air, forcing me on the defensive. As I blocked and weaved through the strikes, I couldn't help but wonder at the creature.

It was clearly insectiod, with its segmented body and tough exoskeleton. Its four wings blurred as they powered the creature forward, whirring incessantly. Both forearms held foot-long blades, capable of blocking and deflecting Crescent Rose. I spun and blocked, again and again, but the bug was fast and vicious, pressing on the attack.

As the seconds went by, I struggled to gain any sort of momentum in the fight, but it was clever enough not to let me fall into any rhythms. It attacked erratically, spontaneously, and dangerously. Each strike was for a vital area, aimed to kill.

But I didn't want this fight. I had seen an awe inspiring sight, but I had no intentions of harming the hatchling. It would be enough just to have seen the baby.

The bug had no way of knowing. It couldn't respond to any logical arguments. I had to solve this another way.

I ran through the options in my head. First, was there any way I could use my surroundings? The grass was tall and the fog thickening, with the forest to my left. I could try to run, but it would likely chase me over the field, and going back into the forest with the bear was unwise. It couldn't understand my words. The only way I could think of was to demonstrate my peaceful intentions while fighting for my life.

And I didn't know how to do that.

So I focused entirely on defense, ignoring any opening it presented. The bug flew upwards and dove. I threw myself to the side, rolling upright and readying Crescent Rose. The bug turned instantly and I blocked the left jab. It snarled and tried several more strikes.

Then the bug's head flew upward, revealing Blake as the body fell to the ground, still twitching.

I covered my mouth in horror. Rounding on Blake, I shouted, "What was that for?"

"It was trying to kill you, Ruby. I couldn't let that happen."

"What about the baby?"

"What about it?"

"What do you think's going to happen to it?

"It's probably going to die."

I gawked at her. "Why are you so cold? There was no reason to kill it."

She looked me in the eye. "If you had the choice between killing a creature and letting a teammate die, which would you choose?"

"There had to be another way."

"Like what? It wasn't going to let us go without a fight, and wouldn't accept a loss. It was a mercy to kill it the way I did."

"A mercy? Blake, I saw what you did, and that wa–"

"Ruby, do you honestly believe you could have convinced that creature we meant no harm?"

I opened my mouth to speak, but no words came. She put a hand on my shoulder. "Sometimes, we have to make tough choices. I didn't like killing it any more than I liked killing people for the White Fang. But right now, I chose to keep you safe."

I started to cry, and Blake pulled me into a hug. I didn't want to believe what she was saying, but the way she said it, it sounded so right. Why did it have to be so complicated?

After about a minute, I calmed down. While I didn't want to admit it, Blake's logic was sound, if cold. I couldn't agree with the decision, but at least I could understand why she had done it.

Over in the bushes, I heard a chittering sound. The baby bug was calling for its family. I thought only for a moment, before running over to the cutie. It perked in recognition when it saw me, and my heart stopped. In just the brief moment it had seen me when it hatched, it had imprinted on me.

I waddled closer, arms stretched out. The baby reached one arm out weakly, and I caught it in my hand. Its exoskeleton was still soft, and the arm blades weren't sharp yet. I knew this would change with time, but for now, it was the cute little bug in front of me. I smiled, though I was cringing on the inside. It was so innocent; it didn't deserve to die.

I picked it up, cradling it in my arms. It snuggled up beside me, and I couldn't stop the tears from rolling down my cheeks.

"I'm going to call you Slippers," I said. I'm not entirely sure why I called her that, but I think it had to do with the image of Jaune's bunny slippers popping into my mind.

"Ruby," began Blake reproachfully, but I cut her off.

"Raising her is the least we can do."

Blake didn't argue, but sighed. "We need to get back to the others. This fog isn't as bad as I thought it might be, so I can see well enough to get back."

"You sure you know the way back?"

She nodded. "We can make it back in half an hour, if we hurry. I don't want to be out in this fog any longer than we need to, and it could flare up at any moment."

I followed her back to the edge of the forest, looking back to see the remains of our encounter. The father's body was invisible from this angle, the tall grass covering it up, but I thought I saw flecks of blood on several yellow stalks. Slippers shifted in my arms, and I stroked her head reflexively.

"Everything's going to be okay," I whispered.

And then I crossed back over the tree line.

* * *

 **Weiss vs. Heracross**

* * *

When Ruby and Blake finally came back, I was just about ready to go and look for them. Yang had managed to dissuade me enough, but having them back was a relief. I hadn't been a fan of splitting up, even if I hadn't vocalized it. It just seemed too easy to split up and never find the other group.

Ruby was holding a large bug in her arms. "What's that?" I asked.

Ruby glared a Blake for only a moment before explaining. "We came across a nest, and Slippers hatched. Then the father attacked us, and Blake killed him."

That explained the glare. "Slippers?" asked Yang.

Ruby blushed. "She reminded me of Jaune, just briefly, and then I thought of his slippers, and…well…."

"You called her Slippers," said Yang. She turned to Blake. "Did you find any food?"

Blake opened Ruby's bag, revealing the collection of leaves, roots, and berries within. "I think this is enough for two days. What would be really nice to have is a pot. Or something to boil water in."

"Don't we have Opzin's thermos?" I asked. "It might not be the greatest, but I think it would work."

I pulled it out of my pack, where I had stored it after the coffee had run out. Blake inspected it a nodded. "It will work. Now we just need a fire."

It took about five minutes to build the fire, and with Hosaki to light it, we didn't have to expend any matches. Blake had spent the time preparing the meal, and her hands were stained with berry juice. There was a stream close by, one of the first things we had looked for to make a place for camp, and Blake washed up there.

While we waited for it to cook, Blake and Ruby shared their experiences on the scavenging trip. Ruby was still mad at Blake for killing the father bug, but I sided with Blake. She had made the right call, sad as it was. I didn't tell that to Ruby, though. While Slippers certainly helped cheer her up, she was still down.

I didn't mind Slippers, but in the end, it was another mouth to feed. While Chimecho and Hosaki did have to eat, it felt like they were useful, in their own way. Slippers was a hatchling. But I could never tell Ruby to get rid of her.

Yang fished the thermos out of the fire, and poured it into my water bottle. Blake took an experimental sip, and sat for about ten seconds before swallowing.

"How is it?" I asked.

"Palatable," she replied. Which meant beware. I took a sip myself, and nearly grimaced. There was a strong mix of sour and bitter, and it did not agree with me. Still, it was warm, and I took several more sips before passing it on.

"Be sure to only give the broth to Slippers," Yang said as Ruby was about to feed the bug.

"I know," said Ruby. She carefully tipped the liquid into Slippers' mouth. The bug slurped it up, and seemed to beg for more. Ruby laughed and obliged. We kept passing it around until there was none left.

As we ate, the fog had thinned, and the sun shone through the mist, enough that there was significant glare. But we could at least see. "We should probably get going," said Blake. "It would be nice to make it all the way down the mountain. If we follow the stream, we might find some people."

We packed what little we had, and continued our descent along the winding water. Eventually, the fog dissipated, though the sun was already reddening. Up ahead, the stream widened out as another joined it and formed a small lake. There weren't any buildings around the lakefront, but there was a clearing about the size of the lake nearby.

"We'll make camp here," said Ruby. "No point in going any further."

We made camp next to the tree line, where we'd have cover if it rained. Blake made a similar dish for dinner, though it was less sour. After wefinished eating, we took turns bathing in the lake. The water was cold, but it felt good to be clean.

I had first watch, but when it passed by uneventful, I woke Blake, and went to bed, feeling better than I had ever been since we came through the portal.

A loud crash startled me from my sleep. I glanced around, searching for the source. "What was that?" I exclaimed.

Yang and Blake, who had similarly been awoken, looked at Ruby, who pointed across the clearing. A large beetle had felled a tree with its giant horn, and was posing to a nearby beetle of similar stature. The other beetle backed up, and rammed into another tree. It toppled, crashing to the ground.

The two beetles stared each other down for amoment, and then knocked horns together. A gesture of friendship, I assumed. They disappeared back into the forest, leaving the four of us awake at the cusp of dawn.

"Wonder if that's how the clearing was made," said Ruby.

"That could very well be," I agreed. "They certainly have the power for it."

Yang yawned. "Since we're all awake anyway, why don't we get an early start today?"

"Sounds good," said Ruby. "Blake, breakfast is on you."

She groaned sleepily, but fished in the bag and started making food. I went back to the lake and splashed water on my face. There were so many odd creatures in this world. From giant bugs, to bells and chimes, to fire monkeys. It made me wonder what other kinds of beings lived on the planet.

I knew for a fact that humans lived here, and the thought of seeing someone other than my team excited me. Despite the issue of communication, I was sure they would take interest in us. Maybe they could even help us get back.

That was a topic none of us had breached. Going home. The portal that had brought us here was very odd, primarily because of its location. Why did it bring us to the top of a mountain? And second, what created the portal? There had been no humans nearby to either create or monitor it, so it hadn't been a known creation. Or if it had, they hadn't felt the need to observe it.

I wasn't ready to bring an omnipotent being into the equation, as it left more questions than answers, primarily in the area of motives. Had it been a side effect of something else? But what would be powerful or destructive enough to rip a holethrough a dimension? And to make the portal as stable as it was?

These were questions that desperately needed answers. But right now, I had no way to find out the answers. So until I had a way, I would keep quiet.

* * *

 **Blake vs. Unown (part 1)**

* * *

We ran out of food again the next day, and had to spend another two hours scavenging, but there were no incidents like last time. This time, I went with Yang and Hosaki, and the monkey was able to point out several plants I had glossed over, whether in ignorance or uncertainty of edibility.

I did have the chance to speak with my partner about the situation we were in, expressing some of my worries about Ruby's mental health. Yang reassured me, saying, "Ruby's a strong kid. She can seem childish at times, but underneath all that, there's a will of steel."

That didn't alleviate all of my doubts, but it did help to calm my nerves. I had been on edge ever since the bear encounter, and the relaxing atmosphere made me all the more paranoid. We had no idea where we were or where we were going. All capped off by the fact we suspected we were in another dimension altogether.

I had shared a few glances with Weiss over the past few days, but we hadn't had a chance to talk just yet. She's probably been thinking about the same issue I have, but hasn't brought it up in front of Ruby and Yang. Of course, while discussing it could help narrow down certain facts, there were still too many unknowns.

And I wasn't fond of unknowns. That had been part of why what the White Fang had been doing was so upsetting. What had inspired such a shift in thinking? I had seen the change from peaceful protests to violent voracity. But Torchwick had been the instigator of something different.

I couldn't dwell on that right now. We had more pressing concerns. Screwing the lid back on the thermos, I stuck it in the fire to heat, and sat back. We had been a bit more careful about placing our fires in the fields, because any unlucky breeze could cause a wildfire. The grasses were more annoying to cross as well, because there could be anything lurking within. I had hoped to find a road or similar, but so far we had found nothing like it. The constant fog didn't make that any easier.

More mountains rose in the east, though nowhere near as high as the range we had come from. The land's geography was interesting to me, and I was hoping to find another stream soon; we didn't have a lot of water.

After lunch, we continued to the east, looking formore water. The sun was out again, which brightened my mood a little. The tall grasses gave way to more forest, but had more underbrush, limiting our progress. I grew frustrated, until I heard the trickling sound of a brook. It trickled beside a sheer cliff stretching up about forty feet, and we refilled our water bottles there.

Since the sun was setting, we decided to stop there for the day, and made camp in a small cave nearby. I went into the cave further to check for dangers, but it quickly ended, twisting twice before it slimmed to a crawlspace. Upon peeking, it curved to the right, but the tunnel was too small for me to continue. I listened attentively, but heard nothing.

Night fell quickly, and though Yang had first watch, I felt restless. I shifted uncomfortably, trying to get comfortable, but it was no use. I was wide awake. I think Yang knew I was awake, but I didn't want to talk. I was still awake when Yang woke Ruby for second watch, and then I finally started to drift off.

Green lights started to dance, twisting in black patterns that resembled words, but I had difficulty deciphering the neon colors. The colors finalized into a giant indescribable Grimm, which lumbered back and forth, but never came close. A startling blue light flamed over the Grimm, which dissolved into letters.

I didn't have a chance to look closer at the letters, as they reformed into a wall of snow barreling forward, but the blue flames rammed into theavalanche, again shattering the image.

It was when I saw Ruby shift for Crescent Rose out of the corner of my eye that I realized I was still awake. I jumped to my feet, watching as Hosaki blasted flame after flame at the letters. I shook Yang and Weiss awake, while Ruby stood behind Hosaki. We retreated, not saying a word, scared it might trigger something even more sinister.

Hosaki's flame was hotter than I had recalled it being before, but it was quickly becoming exhausted. The blues turned to oranges, and then the monkey collapsed. Ruby grabbed him, but dropped him a moment later, his body temperature too hot to touch. Yang got him instead, and Weiss sealed the back of the cave with an ice glyph.

We made it outside to see the ice shatter and dozens of letter-like creatures fly out of the cave into the sky. It conformed into a single swirling sphere of energy and flashed twice.

Before us, an enormous dragon arose, black and angry. Blue flames erupted from its mouth, blinding us in the total darkness. I glanced back to where Hosaki lay, tired from expending so much energy. Chimecho had erected a pink barrier over him and Slippers, her healing aura washing over the area. Weiss was covering it, Myrtenaster at the ready. I drew Gambol Shroud, and leapt into the nearest tree.

While the dragon was intimidating, it couldn't see any better than Ruby or Yang could, especially withthe moon gone and the sky clouded over. While my vision was hardly better, the dragon was easily identifiable by the flaming aura it emitted, nearly blinding to my aura sight.

I jumped closer, and leapt at the dragon, blade extended. I sliced open the dragon's back, kicking off of its back to flip away. I winced at the heat of the dragon's body burning my leg hairs off, but the damage was done. I fell into a tree, but the dragon was no longer flying steadily. It wavered further when three of Ruby's shots landed, and crashed to the ground.

Steam rose into the air as the brook evaporated, and Yang capitalized on the opening. The dragon withstood her blows fairly well for the damage itwas taking, and opened its mouth. As it built up energy, I paled. "Yang! Look out!"

But it was too late. The fire-like energy blast covered her, blasting her backward into the cliff side, cracks spreading from the impact crater up and down until the mountainside began to collapse.

I looked back to the hovering letters and back to the dragon. They had to be the cause of the dragon, and needed to be eliminated. Gambol Shroud switched to pistol mode, and I began to down the letters, one at a time.

On my second clip, I started to notice a difference. The dragon's image was starting to flicker. But I couldn't take them out fast enough. One leap and I was beside Weiss. She'd dug Yang out of the rubble and put her under Chimecho's care. "Weiss, we need to take out the letters in the sky," I said, panting.

"Got it."

"Launch Ruby up there. She can take them out better than I can. I'll handle the dragon."

We sprinted to where Ruby was trying to hold off the beast. I entered the fray, and Ruby fell back, listening to Weiss's instructions. I had to put it out of my mind as the dragon began to attack. While its power was certainly lessened now that I had taken out over a dozen of the letters, it had healed its injuries, which were no longer hindering its movement.

Ruby had landed several more strikes to wings, making sure it couldn't reenter the air. I went for the legs, ducking a fiery punch and slashing open its calf. The dragon roared in pain, stumbling, and I had to flip backwards to dodge the sweep of flames. I closed the distance again, aiming for the other leg, but it anticipated my move.

Its fist slammed into my back and I went flying. An intense burning sensation erupted all over my body. I screamed. I rolled back and forth, but it wouldn't go away. For a moment, the burning lessened, but as soon as I tried to move, it was back.

Still, I wouldn't let this stop me from taking the dragon down. I crawled to one leg, leaning on Gambol Shroud. The dragon had fully healed in the meantime, and flew at me. I had one chance.

Flames poured over where my semblance clone lay, and I jumped onto its back, driving my sword into the creature's shoulder. I held on, until the dragon's head turned and let go before the flames swept over me. I lay on pebbles, where the brook had once flowed. The dragon was still up. Glancing at the sky, I saw Weiss's snowflake glyphs among the letters. At least, I thought, they'd be able to take out the letters….

* * *

 **Yang vs. Unown (part 2)**

* * *

Getting thrown into a cliff side wasn't the most fun experience I'd had in life, I decided, as I watched the cliff crumble around me. A particularly large chunk of cliff collided with my head, and I blacked out.

I awoke to find myself behind Chimecho's barrier and under her healing aura. I climbed to my feet, surveying the battlefield. Blake was doing her best against the dragon alone, while Weiss was up in the air, attacking the letters on her glyphs. I wasn't sure where Ruby was, but since she wasn't fighting with Blake, she was probably with Weiss.

I could see the logic in their actions–kill the source, after all–but Blake wasn't faring well. I called out as the flaming punch sent her tumbling. I could see her writhing on the ground, but she calmed, and stood. The dragon was upon her, but she used her semblance once distract it enough to get on its back.

I was almost there, but Blake had to let go of her sword to dodge the flaming breath of the dragon. I called upon all the power from my semblance as I could, and rammed into the dragon. It crashed through several more trees, and I followed. Blake wasn't dead, but she was close. And anything that threatened my partner like that would have to die.

The dragon began to flicker as I laid the beat down on it. Punch after punch, until it exploded. The blowback of energy sent me into another tree, but I managed to stay conscious. Climbing to my feet again, I hurried over to Blake.

Chimecho was already there, and once I checked her vital signs, I sighed in relief. She was fine. Or would be in half an hour. Chimecho's healing ability was truly remarkable. I suspected that she wouldn't be able to use her healing abilities for a least a little while after this, but saving Blake was worth it.

I could also feel the effects of the healing aura. As the soothing energy invigorated me, Ruby and Weiss approached. Ruby's hair was tussled and her cloak was a little singed, but otherwise the two looked fine.

"How's Blake?" asked Ruby.

"She'll be okay," I replied. "Just some minor burns, I think."

Fortunately, the flames hadn't managed to burn off much of her clothing. I suspected there was a hole where the dragon's fire punch had hit her, but she'd put it out right away. All of our clothing needed replacement, but until we could get some, we were stuck with what we were wearing now.

"So what on earth were those?" I asked. "I didn't get a good look at them."

"They looked like letters," said Ruby. "At least, from the bits I saw. I think they resonated with each other. After Blake took out a dozen of them, I noticed a drop in the dragon's power."

"So the more of them there are, the stronger they are?"

"That seems to be the case," said Weiss. "I don't like being so close to them. We need to get away from here."

"We can't move until Blake's up," I said. "But if those things wake up or more come from the cave, we're screwed. I realized while fighting the dragon that we only have the dust rounds we brought with us."

"I thought the same," said Weiss. "I tried to limit my dust usage, but it's hard. We're so reliant on dust."

"It's one reason I'm so curious about the creatures on this planet. They have some sort of aura manipulation, but a lot of it is stuff I've never seen before."

"Their biology is so interesting, too," said Weiss. "Just from the creatures we've seen."

I felt a drop of water on my nose. I rubbed it off, and looked up. The sky was still dark with clouds. Rain clouds. "Looks like it's about to rain," I said.

"We should get moving, then," said Ruby. "Yang, can you piggyback her?"

I nodded, and with Weiss's help, we set Blake on my back. I took one look back at the cave, but when I felt several more drops, I started walking. We didn't go too far. Just far enough to get away from the mountain and under a large enough tree.

It was hard to sleep after the fight, but soon I dozed off.

When I woke, it was still raining. Blake was up, but Ruby and Weiss were still sleeping. "How are you feeling?" I asked.

She sighed. "Well, I don't feel like my body's going to burn itself from the inside out anymore."

I winced. "I tried to get there sooner."

"It's fine," she said. "You were just busy recovering from a mountain falling on you."

"It'd take more than a mountain to keep me down."

"So I gathered," Blake deadpanned.

The rain kept on pouring as we drifted into silence. It was the first time it had rained, though the foghad been off and on bad the past few days. I lay back against the tree, wondering just what we were going to do. I mean, we had been exploring for the past week, and we still hadn't found any signs of civilization. The only proof we had of humans existing here was Hosaki's flame image.

But I wasn't one to brood. There was one thing I could do to occupy my time. I'd taken to practicing my aura manipulation during my watch shift, and now was just as good a time as any.

I called up the memories of Hosaki's flames, the way it burned, how it danced on his that image into my fist, I let my aura trickle into it, but once again, it failed. Frowning, I wondered what I was doing wrong. Was using an image not the way to go about it? Or was it not strong enough?

The only other real example of flame I could recall off the top of my head was the dragon. Maybe trying the hand wasn't such a good idea. I concentrated on my image of the fire, but no longer was it just Hosaki's gentle flames, but the dragon's roaring inferno. I channeled my aura, and exhaled.

To my surprise, I breathed a puff of smoke.

"Yang," Blake asked, "what was that?"

"That," I replied. "Was me succeeding."

She raised an eyebrow. "I've been trying to imitate Hosaki's aura manipulation," I explained. "I tried to concentrate it in my fist, like he does. But after seeing the dragon I thought I might try breathing fire."

"If you actually get it to work, you can teach us," said Blake.

"Believe me, I will. I just need to get the basics down."

I tried again, this time focusing my aura into one small stream. Another puff of smoke, though thicker and darker. For the next ten minutes, I puffed smoke, until Blake became annoyed. "I think you're having too much fun with the smoke to breathe fire," she accused.

She was right. There was something about puffing smoke that was just fun. So this time, I pumped about four times as much aura and spat it out. A great cloud of smoke and a tiny flicker of flame burst from my mouth.

"That tickled," I commented. The inside of my mouth was also feeling a bit dry. I took several sips of water, and tried again. I put the same amount in, and puffed.

Weiss sat up to a black cloud of smoke, darker than it had ever been. No flame had come, but I started laughing as she coughed, waving her hand to blow the smoke away.

"What was that?" she asked, coughing again.

"Here," I said, giving her the water bottle. After two long gulps, she glared at me.

I grinned, and spat another puff of smoke. She blinked in surprise. "You got it working."

"Not quite," I said. "I can only do puffs of smoke. I did manage one small bit of fire once, but it didn't last long."

"Show me," requested Weiss.

I took a deep breath and poured aura into my mouth. I concentrated, and breathed out. Again, a large cloud of smoke and a tiny flame.

"This time, try focusing longer," said Weiss.

I did, and this time the flame was a little bit bigger. It still died after a second, but it was progress.

"This time, try less aura, but breathe out for as long as you can, feeding the aura into it for a bit."

I did, putting in less aura than my first attempt, and blew out. A small stream of flames came out, and continued until I ran out of breath. Weiss and I kept trying varying methods until Ruby woke up. When she saw me breathe fire, she clapped and hugged me.

"Woah there!" I cried, but laughed. For now, this was enough.

* * *

 **A/N: Apparently my spacebar decided to not work. So if you see one word that should be two, that's what happened. I think I got all of them, but if you spot any, let me know.**


	4. Interlude 1: Riley

**Interlude 1: Riley**

* * *

I sat down, wiping my brow of the sweat that had accumulated on it. The sun was still high in the sky, but I was tiring. Lucario sat beside me, grinning. I always enjoyed our spars, and on the wilderness of Iron Island, we could go all out. "Good spar," I said.

Lucario nodded back. _"_ _Good spar."_

I had hatched Lucario from an egg over a decade ago, and in the years since, we'd bonded over our love of fighting. When I was little, I loved to get into brawls and came out on top more than on bottom. But when Lucario had hatched for me as a Riolu, I'd realized I could put my fighting skills elsewhere.

A year after Riolu had hatched, I'd discovered I was an aura adept. This had opened up more avenues for me to get stronger, and I'd trained daily, perfecting my kata and honing my aura abilities. Riolu had evolved not long after, and I had a sparring partner who knew my limits as well as I knew his.

Today, we'd had more of a brawl than a spar, but each bout was fun in its own way. As always, neither of us had won in the end–any spar tended to end in a draw. I pulled lunch out from the lunchbox I'd brought with. Munching on the sandwich, I glanced around our training area. It was a roughly square spot, with the rock walls crumbled in places. Sometimes, Pokémon would come and watch our spars, but none had today.

A loud crash echoed in the distance, and both Lucario and I stood, alert. A second crash, and we had leapt from our lunches and towards the disturbance. We arrived a minute later to see a Steelix fighting an unknown bear-like creature. Steelix was wrapped around the black beast, and crushed it. I watched in confusion as the creature began to dissolve. Not ten seconds later, no trace remained of the masked creature.

I glanced at Lucario, who appeared as confused as I did. This had to be investigated. I ran forward, the Steelix underground, having eliminated the threat to its territory. The beast's tracks led further north, and I motioned for Lucario to follow.

We found the next clue about half a mile from the Steelix. A large, golden ring hung in the air, black distortions filling the interior. I couldn't place the ring, but I knew it wasn't natural. Before my eyes, another creature emerged, this time more closely resembling a Houndoom. Up closer, I could feel the negative energy the creature radiated, and we attacked.

Again, the creature dissolved, though it took longer than the other one had. "We need to see what's causing this," I said.

 _"_ _Agreed. These creatures are unnatural. Whatever's causing this, it needs to be stopped."_

I picked up a stone, and threw it through the ring. The distortion absorbed it.

"It looks like some kind of portal," I said.

 _"_ _Then the logical course is to enter,"_ said Lucario.

I grimaced. Whatever was beyond the portal, it was dangerous. I had no idea what I was getting myself into, but I did know it had to be stopped.

So I stepped through the portal.

I don't actually remember anything inside the portal, but I do remember stumbling out into a forested area, Lucario close behind me. I scanned the area, noting the red leaves on the trees, but not seeing any creatures resembling the two that had come through the portal. Moonlight streamed through the gaps in the tree cover, giving me enough light to see.

"I'm going to need a better view," I said. Recalling Lucario, I sent out Salamence. He whipped his head around, unfamiliar with his surroundings.

"There was a portal, and it took us here," I explained. "I need a better view of this place."

With me on his back, he took to the air. The red forest stretched for miles in all directions, though I could see mountains to my left. Then I saw the moon.

"What in the world?" A full half of the moon was in chunks, floating near the still composed half. Where in the world had this portal taken me?

Salamence twisted suddenly, dropping me from his back. I glanced up to see a giant black bird flinging feathers at Salamence. He dodged again, diving to catch me.

He caught me just before I hit the tree line, and curved around, gaining as much height as he could. Forming a Dragon Pulse in his mouth, he fired the projectile at the bird. The draconic blast detonated beneath its wings, and gave Salamence enough time to get close. Ramming it with a Zen Headbutt, he sent the bird flying.

I launched several Aura Spheres, each striking the bird from different angles. Salamence covered the bird in flames, and then clamped down on its left shoulder, tearing out a chunk of flesh with his jaws. The bird screamed in pain, and I shoved another Aura Sphere down its throat.

The bird exploded, but I protected us from the gore with a quick shield. I patted Salamence on the head. "Good job, buddy."

At this height, I took another glance at the distant mountains. I thought I could see something at the foot, but it was hard to tell from so far away. "Salamence, take us closer to the mountains."

Salamence obliged, and I turned around to calculate where the portal was from the moon's position. I would pay attention to where the sun rose when it came up, but for now the moon would have to do. As we approached the mountain, my hopes were confirmed. A large city was sprawled out beneath us, and I searched for a place to land.

We set down in a large square, and I recalled Salamence. No one was in the square this late, but Salamence wasn't the most calm of my Pokémon. I sent out Lucario.

"We found a city near the base of some mountains, but it looks to be very late at night," I said. "Salamence and I fought a giant bird like the other beasts. We killed it, but I'm still not sure where they come from. But look at the moon."

Lucario did, and frowned.

"I don't think we're in Sinnoh any longer," I continued. "We might even be on another planet entirely."

 _"_ _That is possible,"_ said Lucario. _"_ _But we must keep all options on the table."_

"Right. For now, we wait until we can find someone to talk to."


	5. Volume 4: Discoveries

**Volume 4: Discoveries**

* * *

 **Ruby vs. Floatzel**

* * *

While Yang's fire breathing was cool, there were more pressing things to talk about. "So what next guys?" I asked.

"Those letters were pretty dangerous," said Weiss. "But crashing the side of that mountain can't go unnoticed."

"I was thinking the same thing," said Blake. "If we lay low around here, we're bound to find help."

"But that can't have been all of the letters," countered Yang. "If there are even twice as many, I don't think we could take a combined assault."

"Are they likely to attack us again?" asked Weiss. "I mean, we took them down fairly well last time."

"I don't think I killed all of them," I said. I'd gone for more debilitating attacks. "They could easily decide to take us apart this time."

"How noticeable do you think that was last night?" asked Yang. "It was at night, and we don't know how far away people are. If they haven't sent people to investigate before the rain lets up, I say we keep going."

"What do you think, Ruby?" asked Weiss. "I think we'll be found if we wait here."

"We can always run if we need to get away from the letters," said Blake.

I was torn. Both sides had good points, but I was more inclined to agree with my sister. How visible had it been? The part of the mountain we'd destroyed couldn't be seen unless you were close by, and if no one was watching, then they would easily miss the show.

"We'll stay until the rain lets up or lunch, whichever comes first," I decided. "I don't want to sleep too close to their lair."

Nods went all around. "Yang, tell us about your fire breathing."

"Uh, sure." She went over how she had observed Hosaki's aura manipulation, and decided to try herself.

"I only got it working this morning. Weiss helped me figure out the best way to do it. You have to focus on the feeling you want to create, not just the image."

We tried this for about half an hour, to varying degrees of success while Blake prepared breakfast. Yang was able to breathe out a small stream of fire, but the rest of us were all hot air. Weiss had the hardest time.

"I don't know what it is, but I can't seem to make the transition from the image to my aura," she explained.

"Hosaki has a number of other techniques, right?" said Blake. "What if you have an affinity to a different element or technique type?"

"What would my affinity be, then?"

"Who knows," said Blake. "But it's something to keep in mind."

Breakfast was ready then, so we took a break to eat. The rain had lessened to more of a light drizzle, so we decided to go back to the cave. When we got there, all the remains of our fight we could see were a couple of downed trees. The mountain had been put back together, with the cave entrance back where it was before.

"This is kind of creepy, actually," said Yang.

"The letters must have restored it after we left," deduced Blake. "We should get a move on. There's no reason to stay here."

So we left. The drizzle continued throughout the day, though as we went farther south, it started to lessen until it let up at around dinnertime. We found a stream going the same way, and stuck alongside it. Blake stopped to grab the few edible plants she saw along the way, and Yang was busy teaching Hosaki Valic.

I spent most of the time thinking. After 8 days here, I was starting to miss Beacon. It had been exciting, initially, but the novelty had worn off, and when the letters had attacked us last night, for the first time since we came through the portal, I was worried. I was starting to wonder if we'd ever go back.

Another thing I missed was the food, I decided, as I slurped another helping of Blake's concoction down. She was great at making something out of the stuff we could find, but I couldn't help but wish for pancakes again. Pancakes… the thought made me drool, but I snapped out of it when Weiss raised an eyebrow.

"What were you thinking about?" she asked.

I cleared my throat. "Pancakes," I admitted.

"If you don't like my food, just say so," said Blake. "I know it's bad."

"No! I… just appreciate the effort you put into making it," I said.

She smiled sadly. "Thanks."

I glanced out over the stream. The sun had nearly set behind the mountains, and the rippling reflections in the water were entrancing. Then I saw what appeared to be a large weasel floating upstream.

"What's that?" I pointed to the weasel. It was swimming lazily, staring up at the sky as its two tails powered it against the current. "Its face looks funny."

The weasel's head had a tuft of fur pointing up, and its odd orange coloration made it blend with the sunlight in the reflection. It swam on by us, not even caring we were watching. We kept watching until it swam out of sight.

"Can we try more fire breathing?" I asked Yang.

She chuckled. "Let's."

The next hour was spent trying and failing to get Yang's fire breathing to work. Yang was able to breathe little tongues of flames reliably, but had to spend about ten seconds concentrating to do it. Blake and I had smoke, while Weiss was all hot air. Finally, she gave up on breathing fire.

"I don't think I can do fire."

"What about ice?" asked Blake.

Weiss thought about it for a moment. She scrunched her brow, and blew outwards. A cool breeze drifted through the camp, and Weiss looked mildly surprised. She commented, "That was a lot easier."

"It wasn't all that cold, though," I said.

"But it's a start."

She went into breathing cold air with vigor. Experimentally, I tried to make cold air, but it was a lot harder than breathing fire. Blake didn't, sticking with the fire. We puffed smoke for near another hour, but by then the sun had set, and the campfire was dying.

"I think it's time for bed," said Weiss, yawning. And with that, I went to sleep.

* * *

 **Weiss vs. Gyarados**

* * *

We continued following the stream the next day. It joined up with another stream and widened out into a river. About noon, it joined another river, running perpendicular to the one we'd been following. Deciding to stop there for lunch, we made a small fire and waited for Blake to finish cooking.

"What should we do about the river?" I asked.

"What about the river?" Yang looked at me, confused.

"Well, if we're going to cross or not," I clarified.

"Do we really need to?" asked Ruby. "We can just keep going along this side."

"I just like to have all options discussed," I said. "It shouldn't be hard to get across. My semblance can do all the work."

"That worked out so well last time," said Yang.

"And this is a pitiful distance to cover, compared to that. I've been working on my stamina during my watch, too."

"So we can get across the river," said Blake. "Why do we need to?"

"I think it would be fun," declared Ruby. "Won't it, Slippers?" She patted the bug's head, and Slippers whined happily.

So after lunch, we crossed the river. To start, I created a pathway of stepping stone-like glyphs, stretching between the two shores.

"Uh, Weiss, did you really need to make that many?" asked Yang, gesturing to the two dozen or so extra glyphs that had appeared beside the first set.

I smirked. "We're racing."

An afterthought. "Ruby, no semblance."

"Aww." But she grinned. "Do you really think you can take me on in a contest of speed?"

"Let's find out."

We lined up at the edge, and on the count of three, we took off. We were fairly even for the first few glyphs, but Blake pulled ahead, using her own semblance to boost her into the air. Ruby had fallen a little behind, because she was holding Slippers and couldn't use her arms to balance.

It was then that the sea serpent decided to show up. Likely having seen my glyphs glowing above the water's surface, it had come to investigate. It towered over Ruby, who had frozen in her tracks at the sight. I formed a glyph in midair to redirect my momentum, and leaped back to Ruby. Glancing at the sea serpent's maw, I too, froze.

It was preparing an orange ball of energy in its mouth, but I couldn't move. Chimecho wasn't as inhibited, and formed a psychic barrier between us and the sea serpent. The blast of energy was blocked until Yang kicked it in the head, and it exploded in its face, sending Yang into the water.

Finally feeling movement return to my legs, I grabbed Ruby's hand and started running. I looked back to see Yang's head bobbing above the water, staring down the sea serpent. It looked furious. Dark green and red energy swirled around the sea serpent, and I felt its intimidating aura double in intensity.

And then it lunged.

I placed three glyphs in front of Yang to protect her, but they shattered instantly under the sea serpent's wrath. Yang disappeared beneath the roiling water, and I could only hope she was okay. No. That wasn't all I could do. Unsheathing Myrtenaster, I dove into the river.

Just in time to get struck in the face by the sea serpent's tail. I coughed violently, my air escaping. I couldn't see anything. I tried activating a glyph. A sharp pain in my right shoulder. No air. I struggled. I needed air. Pain. Crushing pain. My eyes blinked slowly, and I could see red trailing into the water as the tail of the sea serpent swam away. Then, a black figure plopped into the water.

I vaguely remember voices, colors fading in and out of focus, before I finally became alert. Blake was sitting beside me, her wet hair shining in the sun, and I could hear the faint tinkle of Chimecho nearby. Groaning, I asked, "What happened?"

"Weiss, you're okay!" Ruby exclaimed as she glomped me.

"Ow!"

"Sorry."

I cleared my throat. "Again, what happened?"

"You got reckless," said Yang from behind me. I turned. Yang sported several bruises, but no serious injuries. She was wringing out her hair. "After the sea serpent faced me down, I was thrown under the water, but I managed to punch it at the same time. You did manage to cut its side pretty badly, if the blood I saw was any indication. It took one more swing at me, but decided we weren't worth the trouble."

"I'm sorry," I said. "I wasn't thinking, and when you went under…."

"I get it," said Yang. "We'll do better next time."

"How are you feeling?" asked Blake.

"My shoulder aches a bit, but other than that I feel fine."

"We should get a move on, then. I don't want to be near that thing for long."

"Let's walk a little ways from the bank," suggested Ruby. "Less chance of sea serpent showdowns."

"Let's," I agreed.

The rest of the day went by uneventfully. I had a little bit of lingering soreness in my shoulder, but I was thankful it wasn't worse. We'd gotten lucky in that encounter. The orange energy beam had been enormously powerful. If that had landed, or it had used it again….

Dinner was a subdued affair. Blake had harvested some stuff along the way, keeping our stock up. After it was over, I decided it was time. I had put if off enough, and we needed a plan.

"So, what are we going to do when we find other humans?"

Blake answered first. "First, we need to decide our objectives. What are we trying to do?"

"We're trying to get home," declared Ruby.

"How are we going to do that?" asked Blake. "We don't know how or why the portal appeared, or even if it's possible to recreate it."

"I think we're avoiding one thing," interjected Yang. "We can't even talk to anyone we meet. Remember, they speak a different language. I could say a few things, but trying to communicate this?" She shook her head. "Not gonna be easy."

"So we have a preliminary list of objectives," I said. "Learning to communicate, learning how and why we were brought here, and after that, going back."

"That brings us to the first issue. How are we going to learn to communicate?" asked Blake. "Yang, I know you can read, but how does that translate into speaking?"

"It's more like I know their alphabet. Well, syllabary, but as much as I can sound out stuff out, it doesn't help that much with understanding it."

"What's a syllabary?" asked Blake.

"Instead of a character representing a sound, it represents a syllable."

"Right. I think I recall you saying something like that before."

"Yup. They only have about 100 different sounds they can make, and some are just modifications to a character, so it works for them. Valic has over 3600 different syllables, so making each one have a character is unpractical."

"That's interesting," I said, "but not relevant. So communication will be tough."

"I'm kind of excited, because I'll be one of the first linguists in a long time to practice applied linguistics," said Yang.

"Applied linguistics being…?"

"Documenting and learning a new language. We used to have hundreds of languages on Remnant, now there are only five in common usage, and three of those in rural areas. There hasn't been any research in applied linguistics in centuries."

"Okay. Yang's going to have a field day trying to talk to people. One thing I just thought of though." I looked at Blake. "We have no idea if faunus exist here or not. It's probably better if you keep your ears secret, at least until we're sure."

Blake nodded forlornly. While she had been wearing the bow when we'd come through, she'd taken it off and wrapped the ribbon around her wrist. Now, she unwrapped it, and put the bow back on.

In a way, it saddened all of us. Her ears had represented her freedom, and with it, ours too. To cover it up meant to repress it. To hold it back. But it had to be done.

"I think that's about what I wanted to cover," I said, pushing away those thoughts. "Ruby, you're up first tonight."

I lay down, stretching one last time. I was tired, and sleep was calling me.

* * *

 **Blake vs. Tangela**

* * *

The next day passed without incident, though it had me wondering: just how far had we been from civilization? I hadn't seen any traffic down the river, which was odd, considering that rivers were integral to any infrastructure system. Perhaps the presence of the sea serpent prevented easy shipping. But it still felt unnatural.

It was on the second day after the fight with the sea serpent that the river split. We debated the pros and cons of crossing again, and voted against. While another encounter with a sea serpent was unlikely, it was too fresh in our minds to negate the paranoia. After about two more hours of walking, we discovered that it may have been better to cross the river.

Stretched out before us lay an enormous marsh. I couldn't see the other side of it, meaning we'd have to walk around it. Again, we debated going back, but decided it wasn't worth it. I think Ruby was excited to see the marsh, but I wasn't. Marshes were wet, damp, and full of bugs. Sure, it was an interesting environment, but I preferred to enjoy it from a distance.

We skirted along the edge, though I was wary for any large creatures that may attack us. The sea serpent had made me paranoid, but the encounters with the bear and the bug didn't leave me with much hope. This world had the most unusual fauna, and not in a good way.

It was just after noon, during the muggiest part of the day, that we found trouble. Well, it found us, but the difference is semantic.

A large vine that had stretched out on the ground had sprung up and wrapped itself around Weiss. As it dragged her into the peat, she screamed and struggled, but it had wound itself tightly around her. Another vine shot out from a clump of reeds, but I batted it aside with Gambol Shroud. Smacking the other vine holding Weiss once, it too fell away, dumping her into a shallow pool of water.

"Ow," she muttered. Rummaging around in the pool of water, she fished out a large, shining blue stone. It fit into the palm of her hand, glowing faintly through the mud that covered it.

The vines came back, and I swatted them away again. "What is that?" asked Ruby.

"It's a stone of some kind," said Weiss. She wiped away the mud, revealing more of the stone. The center of the stone twinkled, and I put some aura into my eyes to analyze it. It was giving off an aura, but there was no indication of how the aura worked.

"It's giving off some kind of aura," I said. "We need to take a look at this."

Yang peered over Weiss's shoulder. "So, is it like dust, then?"

Weiss shook her head. "It doesn't feel like it can channel aura like dust will. I can't quite describe what I'm feeling from it, but it's not dust."

"Doesn't look like a dust crystal anyway," said Ruby. "What do you think will happen if you tried to channel aura?"

Weiss scrunched her brow. "I couldn't say. But I'm sure I want to try. This stone looks quite valuable."

Too late, I realized I had forgotten about the vines, which had wrapped itself firmly around my ankle. Yanked from my feet, I was dragged face first, trying to keep my mouth and eyes clear of mud. From inside the patch of reeds, I thought I saw a pair of eyes. Briefly, I wondered what kind of creature could produce such vines.

But that thought was immediately overshadowed by the fact that the vines had hoisted me into the air. And then unceremoniously dropped back to the ground. I was fortunate to have my hands free, as I caught myself, pushing off to flip into a standing position. What was this creature trying to do? Gambol Shroud lay off in the marsh behind me, and I wasn't about to turn my back on the vines.

Ruby appeared by my side, rose petals floating back. "Come on out," she encouraged, gesturing for the creature to come out from the reeds.

"What are you doing?" I whispered.

"Fixing this without a fight," she whispered back.

I held back a sigh, but the reeds rustled, and a ball of vines hopped out. I wasn't even surprised by its appearance, just annoyed. Ruby rummaged in her bag for a moment, before offering a berry to the vine ball.

One of the vines grasped the berry, and carefully reeled it back in, plopping it into the center of the viny mass. "He's so adorable," said Weiss.

"We're not keeping him," I said. "No way."

"Blake," whined Ruby.

"Ruby, we have to think logistics," I said. "We can only feed so many people while on the move. He's cute, yes. But if that's the only reason he's coming with, to eat our food, then he's not worth it."

"You didn't have any complaints about Chimecho, Slippers, or Hosaki," she grumbled.

Actually, I did, but I hadn't voiced any of them. Each had proved useful, in their own way. Chimecho had a _healing_ technique. Hosaki was teaching Yang the language. And Slippers was ensuring Ruby's mental stability. "Ruby, I'm not against these creatures joining us. I'm against them joining up _needlessly_."

Ruby relented after that. As we continued onward, Yang quietly put her arms around Ruby's shoulders, cheering her up.

If there was one thing nice about the marsh, it was an abundance of edible plants. I had dug up a few tubers that I had found, and they were currently roasting in the thermos. We were still along the edge of the marsh, though we had made some significant progress around it. I still wasn't sure if sticking by the marsh was such a good idea, as most people avoided terrain like it.

Slightly before dawn, I was awoken by a loud crash of thunder. I had never been able to sleep through storms; my ears were too sensitive for that. Weiss was on watch, gazing up at the clouded sky. She noticed I was awake.

"Can't sleep?"

"Not in this weather. I've never been able to sleep through a storm."

"I'm the opposite. If I wasn't on watch, you could ask me about this, and I would say, 'What storm?' because I hadn't heard it."

I paused, listening to the patter of the rain hitting the trees above us. "Weiss, what is it about the vine ball that made you want to keep it? As much as you gushed over it, that can't be the reason."

"You're right," she said. Smiling sadly, she patted the vine ball. "It looked lonely. Rather like I feel at times."

"I suppose I can't deny I've felt the same."

"Blake, I'm actually glad you're awake. I've had a number of things on my mind, and you're the only one I feel comfortable talking about them with."

"… Go on."

"It's about the portal. I've spent a lot of time thinking, and I keep coming to the same question: why was it there? I know we touched on it briefly the other day, but it's been bothering me a lot."

"What specifically?"

"Well, there are a number of issues. First, despite there being a portal, we didn't encounter anyone around the portal. That could be attributed to the time dilation, but at the very least, it implies that whatever caused it either didn't care about what happened, or created it on accident.

"But at the worst, it implies that a higher power created it."

"And the existence of a higher power being bothers you?"

"Not the way you might think. A higher power being in existence is fine. But if it's the root of the portal, then its motives come into question. What is it trying to achieve?"

I went through it quickly in my head. "Well, it could be trying to help us."

"For what end? Why does it need us to accomplish anything, then?"

"Maybe it needs our help."

"That makes it worse. Why would a higher power being need help? At the very least, that means it is incompetent to some degree. If it can't act in the mortal plane, then what use is it being a higher power?

"But the other side isn't nice either. That it was bored and decided that doing this would spice things up. If this is just entertainment for it."

I shuddered. "If it's from boredom, then anything is possible. And not in a good way."

"Exactly."

I thought for a moment. "There's one more thing it could be, as long as we're bringing a higher power being into this."

"Oh?"

"That the portal is just a side effect, and that it's doing something else, and it just happened to create a rift in space-time."

"I don't like that either."

"Why not?"

"Because at the very least, it implies that the higher power being is careless enough to let it happen, even by accident."

I sighed. "I don't really know what to say, Weiss. That only this one is possible? Because all are plausible enough. We don't have enough information to tell."

"I guess I just wanted to get it off my chest. Thanks for listening."

"No problem."

Another clap of thunder, though more distant. The rain had steadily been declining throughout our conversation. "Looks like the storm's moving on," I said. "I think I'm going to get some more sleep."

I noticed Ruby stirring, but when she didn't move, I lay down. Much as I tried, it took a while to get to sleep. My conversation with Weiss had really kick started my brain. I suppose I should try to avoid deep philosophical dialogues before going to sleep.

* * *

 **Yang vs. Alakazam**

* * *

All that morning I spent learning more of the native language from Hosaki. I wasn't sure what the natives called the language, and I hadn't thought up a good name for it yet, but I had managed to learn the name of the place. Or at least, I think I did. Sinnoh. So, Sinnohese for now.

One thing I appreciated was the fact that the language was reasonably simple. The verbs, for instance, only had a couple of basic forms that always followed the rule, and the adjectives followed similar patterns. Nouns didn't have plural forms, but I was used to that from Jungrese, a Vacuan language. There were a number of things I was unsure of, like how word order worked, but I was steadily getting the hang of it.

Not enough to hold a conversation, as my knowledge of it was scattered, mostly with nouns, but I was feeling confident about my skills. I had started to teach Ruby some of what I was learning, and she picked it up quick.

While we were waiting for lunch to finish cooking, I was going over a few of my notes when I heard footsteps approaching. I turned to see the first human being any of us had seen in over a week. He looked to be about our age, had blond hair, orange eyes, and a green scarf wrapped around his neck.

 _"I… smell... good."_

It was so unexpected none of us were sure how to react. My team looked at me. I smiled. _"Yes."_

 _"Name… Barry… yours?"_

 _"My name is Yang,"_ I said. Ruby, Blake, and Weiss all said their names, and Barry smiled.

 _"…eat?"_

"How long 'til we eat?" I asked Blake.

"About ten minutes," she said.

 _"Ten minutes,"_ I said. Barry glanced at me, and then at Blake.

 _"You…speak?"_

I wasn't quite sure what he meant. _"Yes?"_

He said something else I couldn't understand, and I shook my head, shrugging awkwardly. I hoped that would get across that I couldn't exactly understand him. Hosaki motioned for me to give him my notebook, which I was still holding. I handed it to him, and he carefully wrote something inside, and showed it to Barry. Barry initially looked startled, but after reading the note, he looked at us again.

 _"You can't…?"_

I nodded, and took back the notebook. _"Sorry. You eat."_ I gestured to the thermos in the fire, and he nodded. Then I patted a spot on the log beside me.

He sat and asked. _"…come from?"_

I thought a moment, and drew a sketch of the portal in the forest, with four stick figures representing us and then an arrow through the portal. Then a second sketch with us on top of the big mountain with the portal and the arrow coming out. He looked at it, and pointed in the direction of the mountain. I nodded.

 _"Name?"_ I asked.

 _"Mt. Coronet,"_ he said. _"…days here?"_

A quick calculation. _"Twelve."_

 _"…come…other world?"_

I nodded and smiled. He muttered something under his breath and pulled out a device from his pocket. He pressed a few buttons, and waited, tapping his finger against his knee. After ten seconds, I heard a voice come from the device.

 _"Barry…you…heard…."_ The voice was male, and sounded like an older man.

 _"…found…people…another world!"_

 _"…Barry…?"_

 _"Yang…speak…twelve days…Mt. Coronet…."_

 _"I…come….you now?"_

Barry said some more things I couldn't understand, and waited for the person to reply. Lunch had finished cooking, and I absently started eating. When Blake set down the thermos in front of Barry, he started. Tentatively taking a bite, his eyes widened and he devoured the rest of his portion quickly.

While he was still eating, the man started talking again. _"…three."_

 _"Sounds good."_ Barry put away the device, and swallowed the last bite. He gave Blake a winning smile. _"…good."_

She smiled back. "Thank you."

Barry turned back to me. _"…come…me? …meet…"_

"Guys, I think he wants us to come with him to meet the guy he was talking to."

"Is there a reason not to?" asked Weiss. "I'm guessing he contacted someone who might be able to help us."

"Plus, we'll get to learn more about this world," added Blake.

 _"Yes."_

We broke camp quickly, and followed Barry. The first thing I asked was, _"Ten minutes, twenty minutes?"_

I was asking how long it would take, but I didn't know how to say any of the question words yet.

 _"Two ji."_

 _"Ji?"_

 _"Sixty minutes."_

About two hours. That didn't seem too bad.

The two hours passed quickly, as I spent the entire time asking Barry about new words. I learned everything from tree to shirt to jump. After I learned a new word, I would try to use it in a sentence, a technique to help me remember it better. Slowly, I became more accustomed to the way sentences were put together. Ruby was listening intently, and tried to make a few sentences herself. I encouraged this, and soon we were all trying to talk in Sinnohese.

Our destination became clear when the city came in sight. I was surprised to see that one was so close to the marsh, but it was a happy coincidence. Architecturally, it reminded me of what I'd seen from pictures of Mistral. None of the buildings went above three stories, and it was fairly spread out, indicating that until recently this had been a rural area.

What I was surprised to see were the few cars I saw. They strongly resembled those from our world, though I doubted they functioned the same way ours did. I didn't see any motorcycles, but I still thought of Bumblebee. I was missing my ride.

The epicenter of traffic seemed to be where we were headed: a large building with three stories, large double doors, and a vermillion roof. I saw several more creatures I hadn't seen before, the most notable being a fox with nine tails, and a large slug.

But Barry led us to a small coffee shop across the street from the building, and ordered us all some water. It seems that even in other worlds, coffee was still a necessity. But I was still curious about the building. _"That place?"_

 _"Pokémon Center."_

 _"Pokémon?"_

He pointed to Chimecho, Hosaki, and Slippers. _"Pokémon."_

So it was a term for the creatures. I didn't have time to ponder this, as the door to the coffee shop opened and in came an older man with white hair and a beard. Beside him stood a Pokémon with a large mustache and holding two spoons. The old man pulled a ball from his pouch and a red light covered the Pokémon, and it disappeared. Barry waved him over, and he sat down.

 _"These…people…talked."_

 _"Yes. I found…came here,"_ said Barry.

He addressed us. _"My name is Rowan. I…Pokémon…but…Barry…I…heard came."_

 _"I'm Yang,"_ I said, and pointed to each of my teammates. _"Ruby, Blake, Weiss."_

 _"Barry said…Mt. Coronet…came…?"_

I pulled out my notebook and showed him the drawing I'd made of us going through the portal. Rowan said something I didn't understand, and I shrugged. He cleared his throat and tried again. _"…say about…?"_

He wanted me to describe the portal. Okay…. _"Yellow circle, black thing middle. Me."_ I pointed to the circle and then to myself.

 _"…you…see…I…?"_

He was talking fast enough that it became hard to understand, so I said, _"Say slow."_

 _"Sorry. …thing…you…see different?"_

 _"My world, no Pokémon,"_ I said. _"Bad thing. Grimm."_ With my mediocre drawing skills, I sketched a Beowolf and a dead person. _"People."_ I dragged my finger across my throat.

Rowan made a comment to Barry, and he replied, _"Yes… Jamie."_ They continued talking, and I could only catch a few words here and there. Then Rowan stood up and said one last thing I didn't understand, smiled, and left the shop.

Barry paid at the counter, and took us to the Pokémon Center. He talked to the lady at the front desk and got us a room for the evening. With four bunks, it left us with plenty of room, and Barry's was next door, which was helpful. I did have one big question.

 _"Pokémon circle red?"_ I asked. Whatever Rowan had done to the Pokémon, it was obviously accepted, but it made me curious.

 _"Poké Ball. Use…Pokémon."_

Poké Ball. I got that it stored the Pokémon in some way, but I wasn't sure what its use was. Barry pulled a Poké Ball from his belt, and a white light emerged, forming into a giant penguin. It had a yellow trident rising from its beak, and stood about my height.

 _"Empoleon,"_ said Barry. Empoleon sized me up, and nodded appreciatively. Hosaki met the penguin's eyes, and then they embraced. Barry looked surprised, until he examined Hosaki more closely.

 _"Hosaki?"_ The monkey screeched affirmatively.

 _"…Mitsumi?"_

Hosaki started to cry. Barry hugged him, and looked at me. I nodded sadly. Barry held Hosaki closer and began crying himself. After a minute, he stood and wiped away his tears. _"…found Hosaki?"_

 _"Mt. Coronet. Alone. He think I Mitsumi."_

 _"Thank you."_ He grabbed his wallet and showed me a picture. It was clearly him with his parents and sister. His sister greatly resembled me, though a little younger. A smaller monkey was on her shoulder, and Barry was carrying a tiny penguin.

 _"Thank you,"_ he repeated.

* * *

 **Last updated: 8/20/15**


	6. Volume 5: Meetings

**Volume 5: Meetings**

* * *

 **Ruby vs. Staraptor**

* * *

Barry left a moment later, probably to tell his family. Despite the tragedy that was Mitsumi's death, it didn't dampen my excitement. We'd finally found other people, and it was so weird to see everything here.

"That was unexpected," said Weiss.

"And sad," I added.

"At least we were able to tell them what happened to her," said Blake. "They might be able to locate her body if she was caught in the avalanche."

"I don't think we need to dwell on this," said Weiss. "Yang, you were able to follow Rowan better than any of us. What do you think he's doing right now?"

"It sounded like he was going to get another person on board," said Yang. She sat down on the bed across from me. "I think he's getting someone who can help translate."

"So a professor?" I asked.

"Probably."

"I know we've talked about some of our goals earlier, but I've thought of a few things we should go over," said Weiss. "From the way their city is structured, it's fairly reasonable to assume that the Grimm are a non issue here, either from the Pokémonor them not existing in the first place. But that's still something we need to confirm."

"I think their reaction speaks for themselves," said Blake. "They didn't appear to recognize the Beowolf when Yang sketched it."

"Even still," said Weiss, "we should bring it up again. Then there's the issue of the portal."

"He didn't seem that concerned with the portal," said Blake. "I think he was more focusing on the differences between the worlds."

"That makes it sound like they know about dimension travel," I said.

"For all we know, they could be," said Blake.

"In any case," said Weiss, "we need to figure out what's up with that. Another thing we haven't talked about yet is culture and history. We have no idea what kinds of societal differences between us there are, and their history has to be relevant."

Slippers shifted in my arms restlessly. I set her on the floor, where she stretched out, her wings testing the air. "Anything else on the to-do list?" asked Yang.

Blake nodded. "We need to know more about Pokémon."

"They seem to be an integral part of their world," said Weiss. She batted away one of Reed's vines, which had been playing with her hair. "I also wonder about aura. I didn't sense any from Barry, but it's likely they might not know of it."

Further talk was interrupted by Barry opening the door. He said something to Yang, who nodded back.

 _"…Pokémon…talk…,"_ he continued, addressing all of us. _"…seven hundred…eighteen…."_

He was mostly talking to Yang, though, as she knew the language the best. I had been paying attention when Yang and Barry had been saying things earlier, but that didn't help that much.

"So there are about 700 different Pokémon," translated Yang, "and 18 groups they sort them into."

Barry listed off the different groups, but only a few stuck out – Water, Fire, Ice, Bug, and Metal. "These are more like attributes or elements than groups," commented Yang.

Several other elements became clear – Grass, Electric, Ground, Rock, and Bird. Barry showed us the rest of his Pokémon, and told us their element.

First was his Empoleon, which we had already met. He was a Water/Metal type, which suited the large penguin well. He had a very regal attitude, but it was the gentle, chivalrous kind.

His next Pokémon was his Staraptor. Strongly resembling a large hawk, he glared at us each in turn, and didn't let me stroke his feathers. He was part Bird element, but the other element was a bit confusing. Eventually, we figured out that it was not a very special element – so we called it the Basic element.

Heracross was a Pokémon we had already seen, the ones that had knocked down a few trees by the lake, and he was clearly a Bug element, but his second element also wasn't immediately obvious. When Barry demonstrated a fighting stance, laughably bad in form, we got the idea. Heracross was a Fighting type.

Roserade was my favorite of Barry's Pokémon, with her elegant stature and rose bouquet arms. She was a Grass and Poison element. Barry had to mime eating some poison to get us to figure out what the Poison element was, but it was all in good fun.

Rapidash, the flaming unicorn, took all of Weiss's attention. She was obviously a Fire element, and didn't have a second one. She pawed the floor calmly as Weiss stroked her gently.

"The flames aren't hot at all," said Weiss, amazed.

Barry had one more Pokémon, but it was too large to fit into the room. He said it was a Basic type, and liked to eat and sleep. I was curious about our own Pokémon, and asked, _"Our Pokémon?"_

Hosaki was a Fire and Fighting element, which made a lot of sense. But we hit a bit of a snag with Slippers.

"He's a Bug and Bird element?" That was confusing. How was Slippers like a bird?

"Maybe it's not so much Bird type as Air type," said Blake.

That classification made a little more sense. Chimecho's type was easily deduced when Barry pointed to his head. "Mind type, or something like it."

"The Pokémon that Rowan had was probably a Mind type," noted Blake.

There were still a few more types that weren't represented here. To help with that, Barry showed us a device he called a Pokédex. It was an electronic encyclopedia of all the Pokémon, and he used it to explain the last four types.

The first was Ghost, an easy enough example. Haunter and Gengar were clearly Ghost types, but the additional Poison type was interesting. He showed us a couple more: Mismagius, a Pokémon that looked like a witch, Duskull, an odd skull like Pokémon with one eye, and Drifblim, a purple hot air balloon.

The second was Dragon. Again, an easy type to guess when shown examples, with Dragonite, Salamence, and Garchomp all looking the part.

The third type we called the Fairy type. Clefable, Togekiss, and Marill all looked like fairies to some degree, so I had called them fairies. Marill had the cutest round cheeks, but I liked Togekiss's elegance and Clefable's mysterious air too.

The hard one was Dark. Weavile, a weasel with sharp claws, Skuntank, a skunk, and Honchkrow, a bluish bird with white breast feathers and a cool hat were all Dark types, but getting to that conclusion involved Barry turning off the lights in the room for a moment. Then we got it.

After that, he tried to explain type matchups. It's not like it was a difficult concept, but it was hard to track all of the interactions between the 18 types. Too much information at once. Just keeping track of the 18 types was hard enough. I suppose it was all natural to him, but coming into this from nothing and in a different language made it tough. I couldn't blame him, though. He was clearly excited, trying to explain this to us. Barry was nothing if not passionate.

In the end, he drew up a chart on a sheet of Yang's notebook, listing which types were more effective against another. But the thing I was most curious about was why this was necessary information.

So I asked him. _"Why teach us this?"_

He cocked his head. _"…Pokémon…."_

 _"Don't understand."_

 _"Next day, show you,"_ he promised. It was getting late. _"Place to eat….come…me."_

Eating something else other than Blake's wilderness cooking was an exciting prospect. While I respected her cooking ability, I was looking forward to tasting some of what Sinnoh had to offer.

What I was not expecting was lots of rice. All of the dishes at the restaurant Barry took us to were rice dishes, something I hadn't really had before. Rice was more of a staple in Vacuan food, but not so in Vale. Still, the food was decent, and free, so I ate my fair share.

Barry had the room across the hall from ours, and he told us we were free to interrupt him at any time, before leaving us to settle down for the night. It felt a little odd to be sleeping on an actual bed now, instead of trying to get comfortable with my cloak. But it was that warm, fuzzy kind of odd that melted away in the soft covers. Things were looking up now, and so many exciting things were going to happen. I could just feel it.

* * *

 **Weiss vs. Snorlax**

* * *

We knocked on Barry's door shortly after dawn. He answered groggily, and told us to wait five minutes. He reappeared, dressed, five minutes on the dot, and took us to breakfast. A mix of eggs, soup, and a pastry, we ate quickly. There was a lot we had to do today.

As we left the shop, Barry turned to Ruby and said something about Pokémon. She nodded vigorously, and he led us to a field near the Pokémon Center. Lines were drawn across the field, forming a rectangle split in half. Then Barry called out his Roserade and his Snorlax.

Snorlax was every bit as large as Barry had suggested, standing at least 10 feet tall, with white and blue fur. He gave his Pokémon some instructions, and shouted, _"Start!"_

Roserade had taken one side of the field, and produced some vines from within its bouquet, targeting Snorlax, who had taken the other side. As the vine whips connected, Snorlax grunted, but didn't seem overly bothered. He just sat there. Then I noticed a faint white glow enshrouding Snorlax. It visibly strengthened twice, and each time, the vines seemed to be less damaging.

Roserade noticed that her attacks were doing nothing against Snorlax, so she switched tactics. Out of her left bouquet, a large seed appeared, latching itself onto Snorlax. Vines spread out over Snorlax's body, and a harsh red light covered Snorlax for a second. It disappeared a moment later, but the effects were obvious. Snorlax was weakened.

So Snorlax went on the offensive. He launched himself into the air, looming over Roserade. Roserade deftly dodged, but tripped when the impact shattered the ground. Then the giant rolled over, crushing Roserade beneath him.

Two lances of green energy wrapped itself around Snorlax, and I could see Snorlax's aura draining, reinforcing the flower's. Snorlax lifted himself up, and crashed back down again.

I winced. Staying under that much weight had to be hurting the flower, but Barry had yet to step in. He was carefully watching the spar, evaluating their technique. I wondered why Pokémon were taught to fight, if there was no enemy to fight against. What was the point?

The green lances of energy around Snorlax receded, only for Snorlax to roll over. Roserade, damaged and weary, was jabbing at Snorlax's exposed stomach, purple energy covering her roses. Ruby was cheering her on, and Roserade's onslaught was pushing Snorlax back.

But it wasn't to last. The white aura around Snorlax swirled around, forming into a ball, which he then swallowed. The injuries that Roserade had done her best to inflict were disappearing. However, the protective effects were now gone. Roserade launched the two lances of energy again, wrapping around Snorlax as the seed, which still covered him, took effect.

Together, the seed's debilitating effect and Roserade's draining technique began to overwhelm Snorlax. He seemed to be panicking, and launched himself into the air one last time.

With Roserade holding onto Snorlax, there was no way for her to dodge the attack. Snorlax crushed her again, but rolled off when the draining technique ended. Roserade was struggling to move, paralyzed by the attack. It reminded me of when Yang had been temporarily paralyzed against Hosaki.

Barry called the match here in Snorlax's favor, to Ruby's disappointment. Barry began to talk to his Pokémon, so I sidled up to Yang.

"That was cool," said Yang. "It completely flattened my expectations."

"It certainly was unique. But I'm curious about why they fight like that?"

"It isn't obvious?" asked Yang.

I sighed. "It's not."

"They do it for fun."

I frowned. "How can you tell?"

"I could feel their excitement from over here," explained Yang. "They went into it with their all, but it was all for fun. They way they fought, their attitude – it's like playing a sport."

"Seems like quite a sport, if they get that injured while doing it," I commented.

"Chimecho's healing technique," Yang countered. "They can patch up injuries fast if they have a lot of techniques like it."

Barry, now finished with his after battle commentary, came over to us. _"What…you think?"_

 _"Good,"_ said Yang. _"Can I…Heracross?"_

I nearly smacked my forehead. Of course Yang would want to have a go against one of his Pokémon.

 _"Uh…sure."_

He sent out Heracross. The bug stood just over three feet tall, and its horn extended another foot and a half or so. Yang walked out onto the field, smirking. When Barry saw that Yang intended to fight Heracross herself, he said, _"Yang…Hosaki?_

Yang shook her head. _"I…Heracross."_

Barry looked concerned, and saying something to Heracross. I assumed it was to go easy on her.

 _"Yang fine,"_ I said.

Barry didn't look convinced. He sighed, and signaled the start of the match.

Yang moved in, fist ready to smack Heracross into the dirt. Heracross flitted around her first hit and struck at her open left side. Only to find that Yang had anticipated this and kicked out, preventing Heracross from getting too close. Back on both feet, Yang jumped and threw an aura enhanced punch, sending Heracross across the field.

She dashed forward, not letting Heracross recover. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Barry's incredulous expression, but I was focused on the fight. Heracross had just enough time to shake himself out before Yang was on him again, delivering a one two combo that forced the bug back.

But Yang hadn't been quick enough. In the one second Heracross had to recover, he had upped his game, and was fighting back. His arm began to glow a dark purple, and slashed Yang on the arm she raised to block. She managed to deflect it downward, but I could see her wince in pain. Punching him with the other hand, Yang backed off. A look of concentration intensified as Yang defended against the bug's attacks.

Then she breathed the biggest cloud of smoke I'd seen. Barry was clearly baffled by this. Heracross backed out of the smoke, and waited for it to dissipate.

I could feel Yang charging up her aura, activating her semblance, and preparing a big technique. The smoke cleared in a gust of wind, revealing Yang, eyes burning, inviting Heracross to battle.

The bug grinned, and charged, his horn lighting up. Yang took a deep breath, and expunged flames. She'd had ten seconds to charge, and with her semblance helping to guide her aura, her fire breathing had doubled in power. But Heracross charged through the flames, shrugging it off, and threw Yang across the field. She skidded to a stop, groaning as she got to her feet.

Heracross was right there, but Yang was ready. Her semblance burned brighter, enhancing each of her punches. The brawl continued for about ten seconds, both combatants trying to get the upper hand. Despite the power her semblance was giving her, Heracross was still matching her blow for blow, steadily increasing his strength. Yang noticed this, and put all of her remaining strength into one final blow.

Her punch collided with the shining horn of Heracross, and the ground cracked under the pressure of the two blows. A half second later, and the struggle for dominance was over, and Yang flew backwards, crashing into the ground. Ruby was at her side a moment later, checking over her injuries.

I sighed, and walked over. Chimecho began the healing process, warm aura flowing over Yang's battered body.

She coughed, and grinned. "Guess I got too bugged out."

Barry came over, Heracross trailing behind him. He'd come out with a slight scuffing on his shell, and a couple of bruises on his arms, but otherwise the bug was fine. I was sufficiently impressed with his power level. Beating Yang was no easy task, and even when she'd been pulling on every last drop of power from her semblance, Heracross had withstood it and soundly thrashed her.

On the other hand, I think Barry was surprised that a person was able to even attempt to combat his Pokémon. That was another point for the theory that humans from Sinnoh didn't know how to use their own aura. _"Yang, I…wasn't…that. That was…."_

 _"Thank you,"_ replied Yang.

 _"I've never seen…anything…it."_

Yang smiled. She looked Heracross in the eye. _"Good fight."_ She extended her fist, and Heracross gave her a fist bump, grinning back.

Several notes played, and Barry pulled out his communication device from his pocket. _"Hello?"_

A beat.

 _"Outside…by…. Yes. Yes."_

He put the device away. _"Jamie. She is here to help."_

* * *

 **Blake vs. Metagross**

* * *

Jamie met us back at the Pokémon Center. She had long black hair with lavender highlights tied back with a ponytail, and wore glasses, a pink top, and gray sweatpants. A laptop computer stood open on the table, and she had five Poké Balls hanging on her orange belt.

Rowan was also there, a curious glint in his eyes. He raised an eyebrow after he glanced at Yang's bruises. _"Yang…Heracross…fire…."_

Rowan's eyebrows just rose further. _"…she…fire?"_

Barry nodded emphatically. He said something else, before turning to Jamie. _"Thanks…coming."_

Jamie smiled. _"No, thank you. I…this…you calling…."_

Barry gestured to the four of us. _"Jamie, this is Yang, Blake, Weiss, and Ruby."_

 _"…you."_

 _"Nice to meet you,"_ said Yang.

And then came the part I was dreading. Yang, Barry, Rowan, and Jamie exchanged several lines of dialogue, of which I only caught a word or two. Yang, actually, seemed quite confident, though I could tell that she was faking it. She was just as nervous as I was. After seeing the skill of Barry's Pokémon, I was more than a little worried. Barry was still a teenager. Even if he was considered prodigious for his age, there had to be higher tiered people. Comparing him to us and the elite to fully trained huntsmen was quite apt.

Barry's Heracross had crushed Yang. Even at her most powerful, it had emerged near unscathed. Maybe if she had been using Ember Celica, she might have damaged him, but in every way Heracross outclassed her. Speed, strength, agility, and defense. Maybe the four of us could have taken it on. But I wasn't willing to bet on it. And if Barry used a second Pokémon, we'd be screwed.

I wasn't expecting trouble here. Barry had been very kind and enthusiastic about helping us. But I was prepared for it. If things went south, we had to be able to get out. I didn't like our prospects on our own for too long – there was too much we didn't know – but we had proved we could get by.

Yang turned to us. "Okay, I think I've got a handle on the situation."

"Go on," said Weiss.

"Basically, Jamie has this one Pokémon that can do really fast mental calculations, and she's offered to try and decipher our language. All we'd have to do is talk for a while. Once it's worked out a preliminary translation for each word, we can try to talk that way."

"That's helpful," said Weiss.

"It won't be perfect, but it will help a lot. The first step is teaching it how to read, and then we'll try some dictation."

"I have a feeling this might get boring fast," said Ruby.

Ruby's prediction came true quickly enough. Metagross was an interesting Pokémon. With four sturdy legs and a body made of blue steel, it was quite massive, standing taller than Weiss. Obviously a Metal and Mind type, it gave off a heavy presence. I wondered how much stronger it was compared to Heracross. I couldn't imagine anything I could do would have much effect on it.

But the novelty soon wore off. Metagross learned the alphabet in two minutes, and then proceeded to knock Yang's ballpark estimations out of the stadium. She quickly discovered that she could define a word once, and it would be able to remember it instantly. Soon, she was just looking at pictures on Jamie's computer and identifying the various items and actions displayed.

Within two hours, Metagross had a working understanding of Valic, and using some dust, was able to form sentences and ask questions. Ruby was playing with Slippers, not paying attention to our conversation. Weiss was enraptured, idly rubbing Chimecho's head.

I was waiting for the other shoe to drop.

At least, that's what it felt like. All of my senses were going haywire, telling me something bad was going to happen. I couldn't explain it. But I had the most overwhelming sense of dread hanging over me. Like any moment, we were going to be swarmed by Grimm. The last time I had felt so uneasy was when we were in the Mountain Glen, but I had dismissed it, despite the dangers there.

I wasn't going to let my guard down, not when I felt so paranoid. On one hand, it was annoying, being ready to jump at the slightest movement. With the amount of movement going around this part of the city, it was fraying my nerves. But I couldn't deny that knowing ahead of time was more important.

Rowan frowned, and pulled out his buzzing Pokégear. Barry had explained the device the night before, and it performed the same basic functions a scroll did. _"Hello? This is…Rowan."_

His frown deepened. _"What…is…?"_

I turned to Yang. She was listening intently, and as Rowan continued talking, I could see the moment when she realized what he was talking about.

" _Grimm_ ," she whispered, eyes burning in anger.

That sent a shudder down my spine. If the Grimm had found another way here, or if we had been the ones who had set them on this country, we had a responsibility to stop them. Ruby glanced up, her eyes set. She had a plan, that I had no doubt. Whether or not it was beyond, 'Beat up all the Grimm!' I wasn't sure, but it didn't matter.

"Where?" I asked.

Yang held up a hand. "Shh, I'm trying to listen."

Rowan talked for a moment longer, and then put the Pokégear back into his pocket. _"Ladies,"_ he said, _"we have a problem."_

* * *

 **Yang vs. Abomasnow**

* * *

 _"We need to know…Grimm…as possible,"_ continued Rowan. _"We've had…of Grimm attacking people and Pokémon. What…you tell us?"_

I summarized what we knew of the Grimm. How they fed off negative emotion, and only fixated on destroying human establishments and lives. How they faded away soon after death, and that much was still a mystery. I had Ruby sketch out what a few of the basic kinds of Grimm looked like. To finish off my exposition, I told him that we were huntresses in training, learning how to kill Grimm.

 _"Is there no other way to stop them other than by killing?"_ he asked.

I shook my head. _"All they do is kill. They must be destroyed."_

He sighed. _"I will…to where…Grimm."_

I assumed he meant he would take us to where the Grimm were. Just the thought of more Grimm made me angry. I wasn't over the Breach; not yet. Sure, there hadn't been any major damage in the end, but it still frustrated me that I had been shut down so easily against the umbrella user. I'd had one job, and I had failed. Venting my frustrations about that on Grimm sounded wonderful.

But I wasn't happy they were here, either. Another portal had to have appeared somewhere, and that was both good and bad. On one hand, it meant there was a strong possibility of us going back. But the other was that Grimm now had access to this world for however long the portal lasted.

I thought back to what the scientists had said about the portal. They had first received readings of the portal at about 10 in the morning. We had gone in at about 9:30 that night, and there had been about a minute delay between each of us arriving. Approximating two seconds…ugh, math.

"What's thirty times sixty times twelve?" I asked.

"…21,600," said Blake. "Why?"

"Divide by twenty four."

"960. Again, why?"

"That doesn't sound right." I threw up my hands. Blake frowned. "Don't think I set that up right."

"What are you trying to figure, Yang?" she pressed.

"How many days the portal will likely be around, from what we know."

Blake scrunched her brow. "Two weeks, give or take."

"That's amathing. How did you do that so fast?"

She rolled her eyes. "I worked it out earlier. Given the roughly twenty to thirty times multiplier, just halve it and you have your answer. The portal was around for about twelve hours, so when you halve it, it doubles the twelve into twenty four, or one day. Then it's just the number of days."

"…right."

"The portal has likely been around for one or two days, and that gives about two weeks left, if we leave the time dilation at its highest."

"Makes sense." I turned back to Rowan. _"Portal, probably fourteen days."_

 _"Probably?"_

 _"In our world, found portal about twelve hours. Time more twenty thirty times. One or two days before portal starts."_

 _"Twenty thirty times?"_

I paused. _"One second our world thirty seconds your world."_

 _"How do you know that?"_

 _"Go through portal one by one, short time. Come out portal, long time."_

Rowan considered this. _"We should be going now. Please hold…each other."_

I grabbed Blake and Weiss's hand as Rowan called out the spoon wielding Pokémon with the giant mustache he'd used yesterday. Weiss took Ruby's hand, and she in turn offered it to Rowan. There was a flash of light, during which I felt extremely disoriented. Like all my senses were overloaded for a single, crucial moment. Then the room reformed.

We arrived at wherever we were going a second later, and the interior of the new building strongly resembled the Pokémon Center we had just been at. So we were probably at another Pokémon Center in a different city. Which meant we had just been teleported there. That was quite a powerful ability to have, but I wasn't sure how rare it was here. A number of things so far that were rare back in our world were much more common here. Healing? Chimecho was a proficient healer, which needed a semblance to do normally, and both Snorlax and Roserade had healing techniques as well. Fine aura manipulation? Hosaki, Roserade, Heracross, and Snorlax had all demonstrated that ability, and the rest of Barry's Pokémon were certainly the same.

The fact that I had soundly lost to Heracross worried me a little. I didn't mind being beaten, but Heracross had shut me down. Nothing I had done did more than scratch him. It was humbling, to be defeated like that. Again, I didn't mind losing, but I hadn't ever fought something that had outclassed me in every way. The umbrella girl had beaten me, but she countered my abilities. Heracross was like me. A brawler.

Then again, it gave me hope that we'd be able to deal with the Grimm fairly easily. With Pokémon of Barry's level, we could rip through Grimm no problem. Jamie's Metagross was even stronger than that.

I was brought out of my thoughts when Ruby zoomed to the window. Snow covered the ground, and dry flakes swirled around in the wind. While I was familiar with snow, Patch had a very temperate climate, meaning the snow we did get was few and far between. I hadn't been in Vale long enough to get a feel for the winter season, but I guessed it wasn't especially harsh.

That wasn't the case here. Everything outside was either white, white, or almost white. I wasn't sure what season it was here, or how far we had teleported, but the area we had left had moderate temperatures, though the marsh had boasted a muggier feel.

I saw two vague outlines approach the Pokémon Center. It was hard to make them out through the snow, but one was clearly a Pokémon. As they got closer, I began to make out more details. The person was a girl, maybe a little older than we were, with black hair in pigtails that stuck out on either side of her head. She wore a skirt, indicating that she was quite at home here. A white blouse and a blue jacket wrapped around her waist completed her outfit, and I turned my attention to the Pokémon. The first thing I thought of was a snowy tree.

The image certainly fit. It was quite plantlike in its appearance, but there was no doubt that it was built for the snow. Mostly white, its sturdy body and thick fur were necessary for the cold.

And boy, was it cold. The two sets of doors were meant to lessen the impact of the cold, but the wintry blast had my teeth chattering. It made me worry for Ruby and Blake, if we had to fight in these conditions. Weiss was used to dealing with colder temperatures, and I could raise my body heat. But they didn't quite have the same advantages. It hadn't been so bad up on Mt. Coronet, but here it was frightfully cold.

 _"Rowan…you came."_

 _"I came…soon…I could."_

 _"So, who…these?"_ she asked, gesturing to us.

 _"They are…people…know about Grimm."_

 _"Grimm?"_

 _"The creatures you described."_

 _"I was… there would be an explanation. They aren't Pokémon, and…into…. What are they?"_

 _"Creatures of Grimm,"_ I interjected. _"They only kill. Must kill them first."_

 _"This is Yang,"_ said Rowan. He introduced the rest of us in turn.

 _"Candice. …of Snowpoint City. I'd say it's a…to meet you, but with the…, I'm not sure what to think."_

 _"There's one other thing you…know."_ Rowan faced her. _"They are from another world."_

 _"Another world?"_ asked Candice, folding her arms skeptically.

 _"A world without Pokémon, and the…of Grimm. I have my…about why the portals appeared, but–"_

 _"Team Galactic,"_ interrupted Candice. _"I see what you mean. But that's not what we need to…on now. What are we going to do about the Grimm?"_

 _"If their objective is…, then we could…the nearby cities,"_ proposed Rowan.

I stopped him. _"Move people out of the city?"_

He nodded.

 _"Grimm feed on bad feelings. Fear, hate. Moving people will do that and make them stronger."_

Rowan frowned. _"That's…. Perhaps our first…will be to find the portal. If we can set up a…around the portal, we can pick off the Grimm easily."_

 _"The best option is to recruit some trainers and surround the suspected area. Is there a way to…the portal's location?"_ asked Candice.

 _"I have a few…that might work,"_ said Rowan, _"but I would have to…them out."_

 _"We need to…the…as well. I'll take charge of the…. You focus on finding the portal. We'll talk more in a bit."_

She looked me in the eye. _"I need a…list of the Grimm. I encountered Houndoom-like Grimm, and they died easily. …a list and I'll look it over later."_

I reached for my notebook, but Jamie gave me one of hers. I said my thanks, and began to list all of the Grimm I could off the top of my head, including a threat analysis and rough sketches. It was hard to write it all in Sinnohese, but every word counted. One piece of missing information could spell the death of hundreds.

* * *

 **Last edited: 8/20/15**


	7. Volume 6: Plans

**Volume 6: Plans**

* * *

 **Ruby vs. Cold**

* * *

If I had to use one word to describe Snowpoint City, it was arctic. The city was huddled together and low to the ground, so that the residents would have to brave the cold as little as possible while traveling. It was hard to make things out against the white expanse, but the few shadows I did see were vague and fluctuating.

Slippers stirred restlessly in my arms. I rubbed her on the head, and she snuggled closer. I gazed out the window for a minute longer, until the white became overwhelming. Turning away from the window, I walked back over to the table where Yang and Weiss were going over the kinds of Grimm. I had been helping them out, but Slippers had been a little unruly and wanted some attention.

I hoped my little walk had been enough to satisfy her. I wasn't sure of her needs, though I tried the best I could. Actually, now that I thought about it, there were several people who I could ask for advice from.

I nearly smacked myself on the forehead. It should have been one of the first things I asked about, and here I hadn't even thought of it. Barry was sitting next to Jamie around the table, watching Metagross translate. Candice frequently asked questions, and Weiss made sure to answer them. I could almost see the gears turning in her head as she planned various tactics to take down a certain Grimm. I tapped Barry on the shoulder.

 _"Barry, question."_

Weiss stopped talking for a second, but I motioned for her to continue. Barry looked at me. _"What?"_

 _"How do I help Slippers?"_

Barry processed that for a moment. He pulled out his Pokédex, flipping to the entry on Scyther. He showed it to Metagross, who began translating the entry. I glanced over some of the anatomical data, noting that Slippers was of average size, before moving onto diet and care. The entry didn't give any real new insights; Scyther tended to like spicier foods, but Slippers liked sweet things too. Nothing specific, so I continued reading.

A lot of the entry focused on behavioral issues, and I took note that Scyther tended to be more aggressive, but it wasn't anything new. I would just have to discipline Slippers well. I wasn't worried about that, though. I was mainly looking for anything that would be an issue—like allergies or diet restrictions—if I wasn't on the lookout.

Really, besides that, there was only one thing that I was worried about. What would Slippers be doing while I was fighting the Grimm? I couldn't take her to the battlefield, and I wasn't sure if there was a babysitting service or not. I was a little hesitant about Poké Balls: I didn't know how they worked, and what would happened inside the Poké Ball was important. I needed more information.

 _"How do Poké Balls work?"_

Barry sighed—the kind of sigh when you realized you'd forgotten the cookies in the oven and were burning. He pulled up another entry on his Pokédex, and I skimmed through the history and usage portions until I reached the meat.

Looking over the basic schematics the entry provided, I ran some calculations on how the various size reducing mechanisms and environment data worked together, and was satisfied with the level of complexity of programs. While the schematics were bare bones, and missing some of the vital energy transfer microchips, the design was rather ingenious. Storing the Pokémon in a state of energy, with numerous failsafes and backdoors, was actually rather efficient, as it took the heat given off of the Pokémon to power most of its mechanisms.

 _"Can I see an empty Poké Ball?"_ I asked. Despite the good impressions the design gave off, I wanted to check on the work itself. Barry handed me one, and pressed the button for expansion. Opening up the interior revealed the quality work. Given how many people seemed to carry, they weren't too expensive, and mass production didn't lower the overall value of the product. I checked some of the microchips, though I didn't remove any. I didn't have a computer to look at the programming, but the machine was well put together. I was also worried about alarms or data erasures if I didn't follow the right protocol in taking it apart, so I didn't look too much into the mechanisms.

While I was examining the Poké Ball, Barry was telling me about what I should do next. He recommended 'capturing' Slippers—putting her in a Poké Ball. The capturing mechanism was actually quite interesting, as it put a unique marker on the Pokémon, claiming it so that only that Poké Ball could be used on that Pokémon. That meant that Hosaki wouldn't be able to be put into a new Poké Ball, as he still had his old one, and it was lost. Putting Slippers into a Poké Ball would be convenient, as it meant that I would have her at my side all while we fought.

 _"You can use that to catch Slippers,"_ said Barry. I went over my reservations—that the Poké Ball would somehow hurt Slippers, either physically or emotionally—but the history and convenience weighed out the negatives easily. Gently, I touched her on the forehead, and she was enveloped in a red light, disappearing into the red and white sphere.

The Poké Ball shook slightly, before making a clicking sound. I pressed the button, shrinking the Poké Ball down to a more manageable size. I wasn't quite sure where to put it, so I slipped it into my ammo pouch. Hmm, my skirt was dirty again. We hadn't had time to wash them out again after the marsh, and we didn't have anything else to wear.

Wait.

"Clothes!" I exclaimed, making Weiss stop mid-sentence to look at me.

"What about them?" she asked.

"We don't have any," I elaborated.

Weiss paused. "I completely forgot about that."

"A change of clothes would be nice," said Blake. "Preferably weather appropriate."

Candice looked at Jamie. _"Do you know where the clothing store is?"_

Jamie nodded. _"I've been to Snowpoint a few times before, so I know...around."_

Candice handed over a few bills, saying, _"I'll put this on the..."_

I briefly wondered what she was putting the bill on, as she had said that word before, when she called a few people. Probably an organization of some kind.

I wrapped my cloak around me as we left the building, trying to stop the wind, but even my mother's cloak couldn't completely cut off the biting cold. Weiss was shivering, but the shop wasn't far from the Pokémon Center, so we didn't have to suffer long. After about a good half hour, we had several outfits picked out for the four of us, and we headed back. The thick fur coats we bought were just the right covering to combat the cold, and we made it back in time for lunch.

* * *

 **Weiss vs. Snorunt**

* * *

"Have you found anything yet?"

"No," I replied curtly.

"Check in again in fifteen minutes." The electronic crackle of Yang's voice cut off, leaving me in the howling wind. The sky was clear and pure blue, reminding me of the winters in Atlas. I shifted on Lapras's back, watching the snowy terrain behind me. Route 217 was an arctic wonderland, covered in snow several feet thick with large dunes rising around, preventing long lines of sight from the ground.

Yesterday afternoon had been spent finalizing our strategy as we waited for the rangers to come in. We'd also recruited a few trainers, making sure they knew what they were getting into. In total, we had eighteen of us, not counting Rowan, so we split into six groups of three. Since we didn't know where the portal was, we had decided to slowly circle inward, until we found it. Three groups would be out at a time, while a fourth would be waiting at the Pokémon Center, and the remaining two would be sleeping. I was partnered with Dwayne, a ranger stationed nearby, and Brenna, a Gym trainer.

I wasn't quite sure what a Gym was, but it seemed to be an important role, as Candice got a lot of respect from each trainer.

One of the first things that had come up were Air types. Because of the freezing temperatures, they were at a disadvantage as their wings froze up quickly, and the cold air meant they had to work for any altitude. That wasn't to say we didn't use them. Between Barry's Staraptor, Dwayne's Skarmory, Mary's Unfezant, and Kyler's Fearow, we had done some high level scouting. There were a couple spots which looked like they might be Grimm, but they were either too far away to tell, or in an area too forested to get a good look. Thanks to that, though, we had a fairly decent idea of where to look for the portal.

That area was at least forty miles across, half of it forested, meaning that we would have to search it carefully, since the portal had only been a little taller than me. Rowan was working on a machine he thought might be able to detect it, but he said that most of the high calibrated technology for monitoring that had been destroyed when an enormous space-time quake had occurred.

Still, he was hopeful that he could have it built within a few days.

It was mid-morning, meaning we had about another six hours on patrol. Brenna was relaxing in her wool jacket and fur hat, while Dwayne was ever vigilant. Lapras kept sliding along, using her ice powers to create long strips to slide along. The idea was rather ingenious, as Lapras's body weight was spread out enough that she could propel herself along faster than you'd think. It certainly beat walking.

I pulled Chimecho's Poké Ball out of my pocket again. After lunch, Barry had given me a Poké Ball to catch Chimecho, and I didn't have any reason not to. Ruby had already caught Slippers.

I had tried to think what it would be like inside, but I couldn't wrap my head around the mechanics. So I'd given up on that and moved onto the more pressing issue. I had made friends with Chimecho, but was I controlling her? Poké Balls seemed innocent enough, but was their purpose to enslave? There was a whole culture surrounding the capture and battling of these creatures, and I wasn't sure how to take that. Was all for sport? Or something more sinister.

I was inclined toward the former, and the existence of the rangers was the main selling point. They were a group dedicated to the protection of Pokémon habitats and communities. Their motivations may not be completely altruistic, but I had decided that if their society necessitated the creation of such an organization, it had to be aware of those issues. As an outsider, I wasn't privy to previous debates or even wars.

Dwayne tapped me on the shoulder, and I turned to see what he was pointing at. It was an area of patted down snow about a hundred feet away, next to a grove of trees. Brenna had already directed Lapras towards the trodden snow, and we soon reached the spot.

I instantly recognized the Beowolf tracks. A large pack had spent the night here, and moved on not long ago. Strangely, they had come to this spot, only to return the way they came. I pulled out the Poké Gear, and dialed Yang. She picked up a second later.

"What do you got?"

"Beowolf pack. Big - maybe 20 or so. Following their tracks."

"Keep us updated," said Yang.

I hung up. I was on the lookout for other Grimm activity, but I didn't see any other tracks. Dwayne sent out his Skarmory, and flew on ahead. About half an hour later, he called.

Rowan's Alakazam appeared a minute later, ready to teleport us to the Grimm. I had mentally prepared myself before this, but now I was ready.

Dwayne had stayed far enough away to hide from the Grimm, but now we were ready to engage. Now that I could see the group, I felt confident we could take them easily. I called Yang, told her that, and hung up. Drawing Myrtenaster, I used a glyph to propel me into the pack's flank.

With a swiping motion, I sliced one Beowolf in half, using another glyph to redirect my momentum for two more killing strikes. I stabbed one more on the other side, but had to take a second swipe. By now, the pack had realized I was a threat, and encircled me. But I wasn't worried. I lunged at another Beowolf, stabbing my sword through its brain. I jumped, and kicked myself away from the dead Beowolf, dodging the second one as it tried to body slam me. I used another glyph to stop myself short and shot downwards, stabbed another Beowolf in the neck and taking its head off. Slicing another one in the flank, I ducked and slashed my way through another two Beowolves.

At this point, I had reduced their numbers by a third, and I was raring for more. Boosting my jump with another glyph, I slashed the neck of a Beowolf that had tried to jump me, and used another glyph to enhance my downward stab. Ten down, thirteen to go.

At this point, Dwayne arrived, riding his Skamory. The metal bird opened its mouth, dark swirls of energy forming, and released the energy downwards, drilling into the side of a Beowolf. His Golduck had formed an orb of water, which knocked it to the ground. Brenna came a second later, her Sneasel decapitating two Beowolves. I wasn't about to be outdone, so I targeted the Alpha.

He'd been hanging back, content to watch, but now that we'd killed so many of his packmates, he was angry. When our eyes met, he bristled, and charged. I met his charge with a haste glyph, impaling Myrtenaster on his throat. I whirled around, my sword slicing through the Alpha's skull to block the Beowolf's claws. I held the block for a second, waiting for the Beowolf to put enough pressure onto the blade. It raised its other hand, and I spun, dipping my blade low to get the Beowolf off balance, and stabbed it in the heart.

Meanwhile, Sneasel had taken down two more Beowolves, and Skarmory was strafing the remaining six. I met Sneasel's eyes, and used two glyphs to cover the distance. Golduck used an ice technique to hold down two Beowolves, and Skarmory dove, Dwayne leaping off him so the bird could go into a spin. The gyration increased until Skarmory resembled a top, and drilled through the two immobilized Beowolves. Sneasel slit the throats of two more, leaving me to deal with the last pair.

Intimidated by our show of overwhelming force, they stumbled back over their feet, but I was faster. Three swipes later, and the two fell to the ground, dead.

It was at this point that I heard the feeble cry for help.

Dwayne was coming up to congratulate me, but I held up a hand and put it to my ear. I listened as hard as I could, until I heard it again. The sound was coming from a small cluster of trees a little ways back, and I could only hear it because the wind carried it. As I got closer, it became louder. Then I saw what was making the noise.

Two small Pokémon lay under the tree: one badly injured, with bite marks covering its conical body. Two blue eyes stared at me balefully, and I called out Chimecho. She immediately took stock of the situation, activating her healing aura. Momentarily shivering, Chimecho healed the Pokémon in a minute. Once I was sure that she was healthy, I stepped away. A slight tug on my pants stopped me.

I looked back to see the second Pokémon holding onto my pant leg, gazing up at me longingly. I pointed to myself, and asked, _"Me?"_

The little yellow cone nodded, a wide grin spreading across his face. He looked back at his friend questioningly. She hopped up, and joined him beside me.

Barry had given me a few extra Poké Balls, just in case, and this was just the time to use them. I pulled one out from my pouch, bent down, and extended my hand. The Pokémon grinned once more, and pressed his head to the Poké Ball. I did the same for the second one, and she gave me an even bigger grin before entering the Poké Ball.

Dwayne looked at me curiously as I stood up. I raised an eyebrow, but he just shook his head. _"What kind of Pokémon?"_ I asked.

 _"Snorunt,"_ he said.

Alakazam was waiting for us, and teleported the three of us back to our original spot. As I clambered back onto Lapras's back, I thought about my new captures. All I had done was show one act of kindness, and they had chosen to leave their home to come with me. I wondered about the implications. Did they not enjoy living out here? Or were they seeking adventure, and I was their ticket to the outside world? Either way, I had two new friends, and I was going to make the most of that.

* * *

 **Blake vs. Banette**

* * *

The next several days crawled by, with bursts of excitement every now and then. We'd found six more groups of Grimm, as well as a few stragglers, but so far, my group had only encountered one. Beck, the old trainer we had recruited, had sent out his Banette to deal with it. It was the first Ghost type I had seen, and ever since I'd heard about the type from Barry, I'd been interested, if only to see if I could imitate it's moves.

Banette had shown off four techniques while shutting down the Ursa Major. The first move had been a purplish blue fireball which had caused the Ursa to roar in pain. The fireball itself hadn't seemed to be very hot, so it must have had some property that allowed it to cause that much damage.

The second technique was a black blob of energy that Banette hurled at the Ursa. It didn't seem to do much physical damage, but I wasn't expecting that from a Ghost technique. Mental fatigue, emotional drain—techniques that targeted the soul. I wasn't sure how effective it would be before Banette launched it, but the Ursa seemed to shrink back when the blob hit.

Then Banette had glowed briefly with purple light, and disappeared. That had caught my attention more than any other technique I had seen displayed. Not even the sea serpent's energy beam had drawn more than mild interest. But this? This was something I could use. I wasn't sure if it was invisibility, or some other variation thereof.

Banette then reappeared moments later, directly above the Ursa's exposed backside, and used it's final technique. Shadowy energy had covered its claws, and it swiped through the Ursa's neck, decapitating it.

I had put as much aura as I dared into my eyes while watching it, and I thought I could imitate the shadow claws, but until I knew exactly what the invisibility technique was, I would leave that alone.

So I was spending my break shift practicing. It took the better part of an hour before I even started to get results, and even then, all I got was a little shadowy extension on one fingernail. I downscaled my efforts: I would rather have one complete fingernail claw than an incomplete mess of five. My focused narrowed, I managed to get the shadow to extend a quarter of an inch in the next two hours.

The biggest problem I was having was that I didn't know the properties of the shadow. What was it that made a Ghost technique Ghost-like? Finally, I decided to ask Metagross.

It formed the same shadowy blob that Banette had made and let it hang in the air in front of me. I let aura into my eyes to get a better look. I could see Metagross's aura feeding into the technique, but I was having trouble identifying the conversion from aura to Ghost aura. Tentatively, I reached out and touched it.

This was both good and bad. Good, because now I felt like I had a good idea of how Ghost type attacks were constructed, but bad because the shadow blob was now affecting me.

Like I suspected, the Ghost type was more focused on non-physical damage. I could feel my arm fatigue the longer I touched the ball. I started to get angry, but I pulled my hand away before it got out of control. Taking a deep breath, I tried to form the shadow claw again. This time, I managed a full inch for about ten seconds. Then it started to waver. I cut it off and tried again.

Metagross was watching me carefully, inspecting my work. After fifteen more minutes, I asked to see the shadow ball again. It obliged, and I touched it once more. My arm started to droop, but I kept it there while forming a claw on my other hand.

I removed my hand and turned my concentration to keeping the effect going for as long as possible. It took two minutes before I lost control. Pleasantly surprised, I formed it again, and passed the claw through Metagross's arm.

"Did that work right?"

It needs more power. Otherwise sufficient.

I decided I had made enough progress for the day. I'd be out on patrol in about half an hour, so I had just enough time for a catnap.

Taylor, the other member of my group, shook me awake ten minutes later. I hadn't really gotten a feel for her yet, but if she was willing to dedicate her life to protecting Pokémon, I was willing to give her the benefit of the doubt. She said something so rapidly I couldn't understand a word, but she was excited.

She said that Ruby's team reported in. They've found the portal.

That got my attention.

I put on my winter gear, hurriedly clasping Gambol Shroud to my back. Beck was already dressed, his ragged coat matched only by his rugged face, worn from years of life. I grabbed onto Alakazam, preparing myself for another teleport.

I was still a little unnerved whenever I teleported with Alakazam. It was disorienting, and I always liked to be aware of my surroundings. In the half second it took to regain that awareness, anything could happen, and I didn't like that.

We arrived in the midst of a small clearing, where Ruby and Yang's team were already waiting. Alakazam disappeared, off to get Weiss. Ruby yawned, shaking her head to clear any drowsiness. Alakazam appeared a moment later, Weiss and her team alert and ready.

"So, where's the portal?" I asked.

Ruby pointed to my left. "About two hundred yards that way. There's about a hundred Grimm between us and that portal, and I don't want to take any chances. Mary already looked it over, and there's a few Deathstalkers and large Ursas. We need to be careful."

Beck grunted, and started speaking. I turned to Metagross. I can take the opening salvo. Stay back until I'm done.

Ruby nodded. "Go for it."

Beck pulled out a Poké Ball and sent out a large plant-like dinosaur with leaf wings. He climbed onto its back and—a quick glance at Metagross revealed the Pokémon's name—Tropius flew into the air. Twenty seconds of anticipation later, we heard a loud bang. Fire blasted into the sky, showering over the forest. Ten seconds later, a second blast went off, and I could feel the leftover heat as the shockwave burst through the forest.

Beck reappeared half a minute later, grinning. He said something—Watch your feet. Might be a bit hot.

I looked at Ruby, who shrugged. Then she screamed unintelligibly, and charged through the trees. I followed behind, wary of the smoke beginning to climb into the sky. Grimm were running towards us, and I sliced my way through a trio of Beowolves, following Yang and Hosaki.

We fell into a pattern of slashing and punching, moving towards the portal without pause. Yang just finished punching an Ursa through a row of trees when the real threats appeared.

A Deathstalker and King Taijitu pair faced us down. "I can take the King Taijitu," I said. "Then I can assist with the Deathstalker."

"Sounds—" Yang was interrupted by the Deathstalker striking with its stinger, the two of us rolling to either side. "—good," she finished.

I jumped onto the head of the King Taijitu as it struck at me, stabbing Gambol Shroud into its mask. It bucked, nearly throwing me, but I held on, clinging to the hilt as I lost my footing. The other head snapped at me, forcing me to use my semblance and a dust crystal. The black head was now frozen solid to the white's neck, the whole creature thrashing about, trying to get free.

I made cuts along its body wherever I could, until I managed to jump high enough to slit the white head's throat. I used my semblance to get another boost to deliver the decapitating blow. Sidestepping the falling head, I got in a few good slices on its main body before it could react.

With the white head no longer attached to the body, the black head dipped downward for a moment, and I capitalized on it, driving Gambol Shroud into the side of its head. I flipped on top of its head, and hacked at its neck three times. The second head fell off, and I rode the serpent's body to the ground.

Yang was doing her best to dodge each of the Deathstalker's strikes, but I could see a gash on her arm and a bruise on her flank, meaning she hadn't come out unscathed. Hosaki was doing his best to fight alongside, making good use of his firebreathing technique. He focused on the legs, trying to draw attention from Yang as often as possible.

"Took you long enough," said Yang. "If you had taken any longer, I might have thought you were in a bind."

I rolled my eyes, and rolled my body a second later to avoid the incoming stinger. It snapped its pincer at me, and I jumped up to avoid it. I realized my mistake a moment later as its stinger stabbed at me.

I managed to use my semblance and a lightning dust crystal to shock the Deathstalker, and on my way to the ground I aimed myself at the Deathstalker's tail. Gambol Shroud penetrated the base of the tail, lodging firmly enough I couldn't pull it out in time to avoid the stinger.

Now weaponless, I retreated a little from the fight. Yang now took center stage, throwing punch after punch at its armored head. Hosaki blurred in to knock aside a pincer about to snap at Yang, and I could hear the crack of the armor breaking.

Unfortunately, that made the Deathstalker mad. It slapped Hosaki into a tree, and the fire monkey sagged from the impact's damage. I needed to get Gambol Shroud back, and fast. I was about to leap onto the Deathstalker's back, when I heard Hosaki scream.

Fire erupted from the little monkey, forming a burning cloak around his body. He was angry. He leaped at the Deathstalker, and breathed out an inferno.

The Deathstalker was clearly uncomfortable with the heat, but managed to knock Yang back, and retaliate against Hosaki. The stinger came down, and Hosaki was knocked back, again. With Yang and Hosaki out, however momentarily, it was up to me.

I ran forward, using my semblance twice to dodge stinger strikes, and jumped onto its back. Grasping Gambol Shroud, I heaved back, pulling it free. The stinger struck, getting stuck in my last ice clone, and I swung at the base of the stinger, cleaving it in two.

The Deathstalker bucked, throwing me off. Yang was up again, battering its face in. That lasted all of two seconds, as the Deathstalker started pounding Yang with its pincers. Blow after blow, until she was thrown into a tree. Hosaki had stood up, only to see her groaning.

Bright light blinded me.

* * *

 **Yang vs. Infernape**

* * *

I stared as Hosaki's glowing form began to change. He grew taller, gaining a foot in height, as his body changed proportions. The light faded, revealing his new form.

The most immediate change was on his head. He had a crown of flames upon his head, though his tail no longer was alight. He had grown wrist guards and knee guards, and the white fur collar now covered his torso. The orange coat had deepened, now redder than before. His fingers and toes, formerly tan, were now blue.

"Ho-Hosaki?"

I wasn't quite sure how to react. He had just transformed into something new. But whatever had happened to him, we still had the Deathstalker to take down.

I stood up, wincing at the pain in my left arm. It was likely broken, but I didn't care. Hosaki stood still only a moment longer, and then charged. He got up in its face, and steadily began to take it apart. Constantly aware of and dodging its pincers, he was able to knock the Deathstalker into the air.

Blake took that moment to stab Gambol Shroud into its underbelly. The creature hissed and spat for a few seconds, and then died, collapsing on its side.

I stumbled over to Hosaki. He turned and grinned. "Hosaki, that was infireing."

Blake snorted as Hosaki tilted his head in confusion. "We need to keep moving."

I looked around at the melted snow and shrugged. "Okay."

Weiss and Ruby were taking on a pack of Beowolves, and once we joined in the fray, we dismantled them pretty easily. I was still wary of any larger Grimm, but Beowolves and Ursa didn't bother me. Once Ruby finished cutting down the last Grimm, she asked, "What's with Hosaki?"

"No idea," I said. "He just started glowing and transformed."

"Huh."

Overhead I heard the fierce cry of Barry's Staraptor as it duked it out with a pair of smaller Nevermores. He looked like he could handle it, so we moved on.

I was starting to feel hot now, I realized, as we approached a large crater, with burning trees encircling the ground zero. Two Deathstalkers were attacking a large cow Pokémon with two mountain-like ridges on its back. As a burst of lava erupted from one of the mountains, I realized this was the Pokémon that had caused the giant fiery explosion. From the deep burns covering their carapaces, I realized the Deathstalkers weren't having too good a time against the lumbering volcano.

We skirted the edge of the crater, cutting down two more Ursa before crossing the line of trees that wasn't burning. The snow was still slushy, which killed our traction, but floating before us was the portal. Two massive Ursas flanked either side, and I whistled appreciatively at their size. I pointed to the larger of the two. "That one has to be twenty feet tall, bear minimum."

"Okay," said Ruby, "this is it. The final battle."

The thought made me strangely melancholic. We had spent two weeks here, but in that time, I had grown to enjoy Hosaki's company, and the culture here was so radically different I couldn't help but want to stay longer.

But I could dwell on that later. For now, I had two bears to bring a beat-down to. "Let's take out the small one first," said Ruby. "I'll get its attention, and Weiss and Blake will go for the kill. Yang, cover me, okay?"

"Got it."

"Go!"

Ruby opened fire with her sniper rifle, the rounds digging into the Ursa's mask. The Ursa barreled forward, and I stepped up to meet it head on. Boosting my punch with Ember Cecilia, I struck the Ursa smack on the jaw. Blake leapt up on top of the Ursa's back, and slashed through a chink in its armor. The Ursa roared in pain, leaning backwards to shake Blake off its back. Weiss jumped up, spearing it in the throat. Blake lopped off one of its feet, causing it to stumble, and Ruby zoomed over, slicing its head off with Crescent Rose.

One down, one to go.

I had been keeping an eye on it, and by now, it was ready to attack. I ducked one swing, but it backhanded me into another tree. I was getting tired of my back impacting them already. Ruby launched herself off of one of Weiss's glyphs, and delivered a deep cut to its chest. Hosaki was staying at range, breathing small streams of fire to ward off blows that might hit Ruby or Blake.

I shook myself, and leaped back into the fray. I activated my semblance, and channeled it into my attacks. I landed a good three or four punches, until it decided enough was enough and sent me into another tree.

Enough was enough. I got up again, and charged it, yelling, "Boost!"

Weiss's jump glyph came just in time to let me pound the Ursa's face into the ground. It tried to get up, but I punched it down again. Ruby twirled Crescent Rose, and ripped its head off. The four of us were breathing hard, but when I started laughing, they all joined me.

"Guess he couldn't bear the punishment," I joked. I received three eyerolls. Jerks.

We spent a minute resting. The portal was still hanging in the air, two feet off the ground. "So, do we just go through?"

"Let's wait for…" Ruby trailed off. The black distortion within the portal was expanding. Growing taller and wider by the second.

"Run!" We ran to the side, and I looked back in time to see an enormous appendage hanging about a hundred and fifty feet in the air and extending down about seventy. I was reminded of the Goliath herd we had seen on our mission. I looked back again, and saw the protrusion of tusks and a giant foot emerging from the portal.

"Goliath!"

Weiss's head whipped around, and paled. Blake stumbled, and Ruby stopped up short.

"We need to kill it, fast," said Blake. "It's too powerful for us to take on. We need to strike, now!"

"Weiss, glyphs," ordered Ruby. "Yang, channel as much as you can from your semblance. You're probably the only one who can damage it."

I nodded, and we started up the stairway of jump glyphs. The Goliath's second foot had appeared, and soon it would have full range of movement. I began pulling on my semblance, drawing on every ounce of energy I could.

When we reached the nape of the Goliath's neck, Weiss and I kept on ascending, while Ruby and Blake started hacking as much of the outer layer of skin off as they could. Soon, they became small, and even the Goliath seemed to shrink. The wind was much stronger up here, and we were only held aloft by Weiss' glyph. But I wasn't scared.

I was thrilled.

Weiss was watching for Ruby and Blake's signal. The Goliath shook its neck, and the two began to fall.

"Go!"

I jumped off the glyph, grabbing onto the rim of the glyph Weiss had placed above me. I steadied myself, kicked back, and let go. My feet touched the overpowered haste glyph, and I fell.

As I descended like a meteor from on high, I aimed myself at the Goliath's neck. About a second from impact, the Goliath turned, its trunk swinging way too fast for me to adjust course.

Pain…. I can recall the sensation of overwhelming pain, and then…nothing.

* * *

 **Last Edited: 8/20/15**


	8. Volume 7: Defeat

**Chapter 7: Defeat**

* * *

 **Ruby vs. Chansey**

* * *

"Yang!"

I wanted to activate my semblance, to dash and find her. She had gone flying through the forest, smashing into trees and going on through. But I had more pressing concerns. Weiss was descending from her lofty position, and Blake was nearby, recovering from the fall. The Goliath was steadily advancing, and we had no way to stop it. Yang's meteoric punch had been our best shot, and it had failed badly.

But we had to fight. It had been hard to judge just how powerful a Goliath was the first time I saw it, and the twenty story figure had just been an abstract number. Now, seeing how massive it truly was, I was beginning to lose hope. After all, what could we do against such a behemoth?

I couldn't let my anxieties wear me down. An all out assault hadn't worked. It could take any of us out in a single hit, so we had to make the most of each strike. Wearing it down didn't seem possible. So we had to go for a crippling strike. Where was it most vulnerable?

"We need to take it out in one hit," I said to Blake.

"How? It's too much to deal wi—dodge!"

Her warning came just in time. The Goliath's trunk slammed down between us, where we had been standing moments earlier. Right. I'd gotten distracted with tactics. I needed to focus.

"Critical strike!" I called. "Go for the throat!"

Of course, that was easier said than done, especially since the Goliath's third leg had emerged. It would only be seconds before it had full range of movement. I dashed towards Weiss, but the Goliath saw that I was trying to group up and pointed the end of its trunk at a spot in between.

There was a buildup, like water bunched up in a hose, and a torrent of liquid erupted from its trunk. The snow sublimated, water vapor rising into the air and obscuring my view of Weiss. I pivoted, running towards the Goliath to avoid the path of the liquid. I was reasonably sure that it was acidic in nature, and that was something I needed to avoid.

The Goliath adjusted its aim, once again firing to limit my mobility. Anticipating this, I activated my semblance just before the acid torrented out.

It was a close thing, but I made it across to the other side, where Weiss was. I didn't have any hopes of Blake following me, but I'd given her our target, so hopefully she could help on that front without a detailed plan.

Weiss had been holding in the air, not quite sure what to do, but when she saw me speeding toward her, she placed a jump glyph and I soared into the sky. I always loved boosting off of one of her glyphs, and doing so with my semblance activated was even more fun. She had to place two more glyphs to get me up to her level, but now we could actually talk.

A deep resounding thud indicated that the Goliath now had all four legs out of the portal. We needed to act fast. "Weiss, we're going for the throat. Blake has the best chance of killing it. I can distract it."

She nodded. "I got this."

Together we leaped off of the glyphs, falling to the ground. I pointed myself at a tree, and looped around it once with Crescent Rose to control my momentum, before I rocketed across the snow. Fortunately, it wasn't very deep here, so I hadn't had much problems with footing; I would need every advantage I could get against the Goliath.

It had spent the time I had taken to talk to Weiss to spray two more blasts of its acid, further limiting where I could run. I dashed closer, getting the Goliath's attention. It sneered down at me, and again I felt intimidated by its mere presence. This Grimm was ancient—likely surviving dozens of battles. How was I to match it?

I certainly wasn't going to on my own. I had my teammates. There was no way we would lose.

 _Isn't that what they all think?_ a small part of my brain thought. _You're no different than any other kill._ But I shoved those thoughts aside; the time for action was now.

I dodged another splash of acid, looking for the best spots to run to. The Goliath hadn't really taken us seriously yet, something I was both thankful for and horrified at. I'd seen the speed with which it had taken out Yang—now, it was just playing.

We would capitalize on that arrogance.

I was careful to monitor what the Goliath was doing at all times. If it made one unexpected move, we could all die. It now struck me how real that possibility was. I don't think I've ever truly feared for my life. I was concerned when the White Fang and Torchwick had blown up the tunnel and flooded Vale with Grimm, but not like this. Briefly, I wondered if this was the same Goliath that had stared me down not two weeks earlier. Had it only been two weeks? It felt like it had been longer.

The Goliath was tensing, preparing for a big move. I hadn't yet used my semblance to dodge again, and I would hold off using it until I had to, just to make it underestimate me. The Goliath's trunk swelled, but it held the acid there for two seconds longer than usual.

A truly enormous amount of acid sprayed forth, but instead of conglomerating it into one general area, it was covering as big an area as it could. I started running, but I knew I had just seconds to react.

Activating my semblance, I ran towards the tree line, hoping it would stall it just a moment longer. All the Goliath did was tilt its trunk tip upwards to spray the longer distance. When I saw that the acid's trajectory had overtaken me, I pushed harder, aiming to the side.

I just made it.

I could feel the heat of the water vapor as it steamed up behind me, but I had beaten it. Now I just had to keep the Goliath's attention.

A sudden loud noise nearly tripped me up, a dangerous proposition when it could spell my death to the acid. An explosion had gone off, closer to the Goliath. I had to get closer to see, but the water vapor made an excellent fog to diminish that. I sped around the acid's area of effect, and saw what had caused the explosion.

Hosaki had made his move, lighting the acid on fire. I wasn't sure how wise that was, given it had to be emitting fumes of some sort, but it had caused the acid to disappear from the ground. He took a deep breath and breathed a steady stream of flames over the acid, causing more explosions. Unfortunately, it didn't seem to start a chain reaction, but knowing that the acid was explosive was helpful.

My grin faded. The Goliath was opening its mouth, and I could see the interior heating up. "Run!"

I turned to run, and didn't see what was going on behind me when Blake struck.

She had taken her time getting into position, but I didn't blame her. We only had one chance at this. The Goliath wouldn't be so unaware next time.

I heard the explosion and looked back in time to see the Goliath reeling, its trunk slamming onto its underside. I winced, but I trusted that Blake and Weiss were okay. Squinting, I saw a trail of Weiss's glyphs leading out from underneath the Goliath, and let out the breath I had been holding.

I could see something dripping out from the Goliath's throat, but when it trickled down into the acid, it started the chain reaction I had been dreading. The force of the explosion sent me flying, heat rushing over me as I tumbled head over heels. I felt a sharp pain in my leg, but I was still in the air.

I crashed into a tree and blacked out.

I'm not sure how long I was out, but when I came to, I was lying in a hospital bed, with a Pokémon I had seen before in the Pokémon Center tending to me. She was distinctly egg-shaped, and clapped happily when she saw that I was awake.

Blearily, I looked around the room. There was a small screen in the corner—somewhat like our wall scrolls, I supposed—and a dresser with a vase of flowers on it. Red roses, I realized. Blake was sitting in one of the chairs lining the wall, reading a book in Sinnohese. I wasn't surprised surprised to see that she had picked up reading already. Weiss was next to her, holding Slippers.

Blake noticed I was awake and closed the book. "H-how long was I o-out?" I asked weakly.

"Two days," replied Blake. "A lot has happened while you were unconscious."

"Great. Well, I'll get up and we can talk." I made a motion to get up, only to get no response from my left leg.

"That's one of the things we need to talk about," said Weiss. "Ruby—" She cut herself off.

"What?" I asked, with a growing sense of dread.

Tears formed in her eyes. "They had to amputate it. Your leg."

No. No no no. It couldn't be. I threw back the covers, fully expecting to see two perfectly fine legs.

My right leg was bandaged around the knee, and otherwise looked fine.

But I didn't have a left leg below the thigh.

"Just lay back, Ruby," pleaded Weiss. "We'll tell you everything."

* * *

 **Weiss vs. Camerupt**

* * *

Ruby was still staring at me in shock. It pained me to see her like that. That look of hopelessness. I had seen it briefly, when my Mother was told she had three months to live. But there was something different about the way it appeared on Ruby's face. A determination my Mother hadn't had.

"Did you kill the Goliath?"

I nodded. "After you told me to find Blake, we planned our attack. I didn't think just a big slash would put it down, so I jury rigged a Dust bomb, and when Blake cut open its throat, she put a clone in there and had it explode. But that wasn't enough.

"The Dust bomb just made it madder, and it started spraying that acid everywhere," I continued. "I couldn't see you anywhere, and our plan had failed, so Blake and I retreated. At this point, Beck came in. His Camerupt was what turned the tide. It lumbered onto the scene, and the two volcanoes on its back erupted. Do you remember what the first one was like?"

Ruby nodded.

"This one was twice as powerful. Most of the acid was superheated and that combined with the heat of Camerupt's lava took it down. Beck came and gave us a ride, which was nice because I was starting to get tired. His Camerupt was exhausted, and we didn't know where you or Yang was, and the Goliath was the last Grimm, so we left to find you."

"Where was I?" asked Ruby.

"We didn't know where you had gone, but we knew the general direction Yang had been thrown, so we rescued her first. She was fine, for the most part. A broken arm and two bruised ribs, and some injuries on her back."

"Where is she right now?"

"She's talking with the heads of the Pokémon League about the current situation."

"The Pokémon what?"

"The Pokémon League. It's a government sponsored organization that regulates Pokémon Trainers and their activities," I explained.

"What kind of activities?" asked Ruby. I saw the momentary twitch of her stump moving under the sheets and the slight grimace that accompanied it, but didn't comment.

"It's mostly sportive, from my understanding," I said. "They hold tournaments and other sport-like events."

"So Yang's talking with the big guys?"

"Well...yes." I hesitated, thinking about just who Yang was talking to. Ruby was likely thinking of the businessman type—overly formal and polite and dressed in suits. And there were a few people like that. But the two Elite Four members didn't fit that model. Flint was so easygoing and laid-back she had been surprised that he was considered to be one of the top trainers in the region. Aaron was a little more refined, but he had his own quirks. The way he sat on chairs irked me.

I had also learned just what a Gym was, and that Candice was actually in a well known position as the Gym Leader.

Slippers started to get restless, so I stood up and handed her to Ruby. The bug calmed down, and I could see a slight smile crack Ruby's lips.

"So you found Yang. What happened next?"

"That was when the second Goliath came through," said Blake. She'd been quiet throughout our exchange so far, and she had seemed to pull away the past couple of days. I hadn't asked her about it, but I knew she was bothered by something.

Ruby's face fell.

"We didn't have a way to deal with it, and with the other Goliath corpse lying nearby, there was no way that it wouldn't deal with every threat with extreme caution. So we left it alone to find you," I said. "We called the others to let them know not to engage."

"So how did you find me?"

"Beck has a dog-like Pokémon called Mightyena. He picked up on your trail, and led us right to you."

"Do you remember seeing the rocky area at all?" Blake asked. When Ruby shook her head, Blake continued: "There was one rock in particular that had a jagged edge. When you went flying, your knee smashed into it, and since your aura had mostly been used up protecting you from the heat of the explosion…."

She trailed off.

"When we found you, you were bleeding out," I said. "We wrapped it as best we could while Beck called Rowan for Alakazam. Blake had to restrain Yang to get her to calm down, but then you were rushed to the hospital, which is where we are now."

Ruby didn't reply, content to let the silence stretch while she petted Slippers absently. Blake returned to her book, turning the page every minute or so. I felt like there was something I needed to say, but I couldn't find the words.

Then Ruby's brow narrowed. "Ruby?" I asked hesitantly.

"Weiss!"

"What?"

"Should I put in a grenade launcher or a knee cannon in my leg?"

"What?"

"Definitely the knee cannon, then."

"Ruby," I started.

"What?" She quirked an eyebrow.

"I—" I paused. She was already thinking about building a cybernetic leg? "Never mind."

"Do you have some paper? I need to start some sketches. Hmm, maybe extra munitions storage for Crescent Rose. Fold out blades? Maybe on the back. Wait, gonna have to think about weight concerns. Blake, how much does a leg usually weigh?"

"Approximately 18% of your body weight," Blake said without looking up from her book "Double check to make sure what the ratio actually is, though."

"Thanks. That's good enough to start. Uh, what else? Weiss, do you have any ideas?"

I sighed and handed her the piece of paper and the pencil I'd fetched. "How about a chemical injector that can put you to sleep when you're being too rambunctious?"

"Weiss!" she exclaimed.

"I'm going to see if Yang is done talking yet. She'll want to see you."

"Okay."

I stepped out into the hall, closing the door behind me. How could she be so happy about this? No, happy wasn't the right word. Accepting. She had just accepted what happened to her. Moved on. She hadn't lashed out. Just, taken in the circumstances, and found the silver lining.

 _Is this the potential you saw in her, Professor Ozpin?_

The hospital was connected to the Pokémon Center by an underground tunnel, constructed for easy access between the two buildings. The meeting was taking place in a conference room barely big enough to fit the assorted attendees. That was the main reason I hadn't accompanied Yang, no matter how much it bothered me that she had total control of their first impressions of us.

But as I came up into the main lobby, I saw Barry, Yang, Jamie and her Metagross, Rowan, and a woman I didn't recognize. She had long blonde hair that reached the middle of her back, and dressed completely in black. Around her neck she wore a fuzzy scarf, and she had a pair of black ornaments hanging from just above her ears.

Yang spotted me and waved me over. "Cynthia, this is Weiss, one of my teammates."

"It's a pleasure to meet you," said Cynthia, extending a hand. I shook it, noticing her firm grip.

"Weiss, this is Cynthia. She's the Champion of the Sinnoh Pokémon League."

The Champion? I had heard Rowan mention her once, stating that she was coming to the meeting, but I hadn't pressed for details.

"How did the meeting go?" I asked.

"There was a whole lot of talking, and not a lot of doing," summarized Yang.

Cynthia chuckled. _"Not entirely untruthful, but perhaps misleading. Yang shared your experiences here, and we discussed our options moving forward."_

I had to look at Metagross's translation several times to catch what she was saying, but it wasn't anything surprising. I knew how corporations worked, and any organization partnered with the government was bound to have a lot of bureaucracy.

"What did you decide?"

 _"First, we need to evaluate the strength of the Goliath pack. Yang mentioned how lucky we were taking down the first, and the next five will be troublesome, to say the least. The rangers have reported no movement, which means access to the portal is cut off until they are dealt with."_

I winced. I had expected that, but it was still disappointing.

 _"We will meet again after the Goliaths are dealt with to determine our next course of action,"_ continued Cynthia. _"I personally hope to finish this quickly, but the sheer size of the Grimm makes it difficult to plan for. We'll be having a smaller meeting tonight to discuss tactics. Your presence would be greatly appreciated."_

"I'll come," I said. "But first: Ruby's awake."

"How is she doing?" Yang asked immediately.

"She's already designing her prosthetic leg."

"I would like to accompany you, if you don't mind," said Cynthia.

"I don't," said Yang.

As we started down the tunnel, Cynthia asked, "I haerd yuu saived Snorunt two. Why?"

It took me a second to process, because she had spoken in Valic. Then another to come up with my answer. _"I not sure. I felt sorry for them."_

"Yuu not have do it," she said. You didn't have to.

" _The boy Snorunt. He lose all if I didn't."_

"So?"

She was testing me. _"I did to show I am me."_ That my resolve to be a Huntress hadn't faltered. That who I was matched who I said I was.

* * *

 **Blake vs. Togekiss**

* * *

I put down the book when the door opened, revealing Yang, Weiss, and a woman whose appearance I didn't recognize. What I did recognize was her aura of authority. She walked with the certainty that she was at the top. Her calm features hinted that she was benevolent, but I was willing to withhold judgement.

"Ruby!" shouted Yang, running over to the bed and squeezing her sister tightly.

"Yang! Ack!" Ruby's pencil clattered across the floor, and I bent down to pick it up. Belatedly, I realized the shadow claw I had been practicing had dissipated. I sighed and handed the pencil to Ruby, now free from Yang's signature 'crush her' hugs.

I formed the shadow claw again, switching fingers. At this point, I was practicing holding it while doing other activities, like reading, and it proved to help immensely. I didn't have to think nearly as much about keeping the shadow condensed, though I was having difficulty forming more than one for any length of time. But I was content to let my progress move along slowly—as long as I was improving, I was fine.

Ruby looked like she was about to start expounding about all the various mechanisms she was planning for her cybernetic leg, but I was more curious about the woman who had followed Weiss and Yang in. So I cleared my throat to cut Ruby off before she began.

All eyes were on me as I said, "Who is our guest?"

Ruby's eyes flitted to the woman leaning against the doorframe. "I'm so sorry. I just saw Yang, and I was just putting the finishing touches on my knee cannon when—"

"Ruby," interjected Weiss, "this is Cynthia, the Champion of the Sinnoh region."

"The Champion?"

"She's recognized as the strongest trainer in the region by the Pokémon League," explained Yang.

Now I was curious. What did one have to do to obtain such a title? And what was the benchmark for that level of skill?

"Can I see one of your Pokémon?" asked Ruby, her eyes gleaming in anticipation.

I had been about to ask that myself. Cynthia smiled, and pulled a black Poké Ball with red and gold rings from her belt. I had noticed there were several varieties of Poké Ball, as Beck had all of his Pokémon in Ultra Balls. When I had asked him about it, he had explained that the different kinds of Poké Balls would have additional effects, from better catch rates to more comfort for the Pokémon. Of course, such specialty items would be expensive, so I hadn't seen many other than the standard.

Cynthia sent out her Pokémon. Standing about three feet tall, her Togekiss radiated kindness. I recognized the Pokémon from Barry's Pokédex, but seeing it was another matter altogether. It was hard to get a reading on its skill level, but I could tell that Togekiss outclassed Beck's Camerupt and Banette by a wide margin. I wouldn't be surprised if Togekiss was able to solo Beck's team. And from what I heard from Beck, he was a powerful trainer in his own right. If all of Cynthia's Pokémon were on a similar level, I could see how she had gained her title.

It made me wonder how Togekiss would compare to fully trained huntsmen.

I banished the thought. All that did was objectify Togekiss, and by association, all Pokémon. That was one thing I was very hesitant to accept—the casual 'enslavery' of an entire subset of species. I was willing to keep an open mind, to attack the situation from all viewpoints, but it always came down to the basic question.

Were Pokémon enslaved?

It was difficult to answer. They formed an integral part of their culture, participating in everything from sports to household duties to health care workers to construction, and that was just from what I had seen. I didn't doubt they played a vital role in education, criminal investigation, research, transportation, public works and infrastructure, and the list went on.

Was it truly slavery if the relationship was symbiotic? Cooperation seemed to be norm, though I was sure there was exceptions. But the relationship was clearly more master and servant—humans as the top dog. How did that translate in practice? Humans clearly had at least domesticated some species, but how far did that extend? The Pokémon world wasn't entirely safe, either, as our encounters with the Ursaring, Scyther, Unown, and Gyarados had shown. It wouldn't surprise me if there were even more dangerous species out there.

The issue had awakened my inner rights activist. I was by no means proposing radical change—I wasn't even aware of all the problems, let alone the various counterpoints and debates. I refused to believe that this societal foundation hadn't been challenged before.

The biggest source of my indecision lay with my team. Each of them had accepted a Pokémon as their responsibility, and I was willing to let that play out. Chimecho alone had saved our lives several times. But I wasn't yet convinced of tearing away a Pokémon from its home, just for my own satisfaction. What we would do when it was time to return home was something that needed to be considered. Should we be responsible for the introduction of an entirely new type of species? I had already seen that the Grimm were at odds with Pokémon. How would that translate across dimensions?

Would my friends have to sacrifice their new companions?

I didn't have answers to any of these questions, and I was hesitant to voice them. Ruby had bonded with Slippers, something I was glad for. She had been unsettled upon our arrival, having spent that extra hour in the cave. And after Weiss had pushed herself too far, Ruby blamed herself for not noticing until it was too late. I still didn't know if she had forgiven me for killing the father Scyther.

Now with her leg gone, I was glad for any stability my leader could get.

Weiss was another matter entirely. I still wasn't sure how she had managed to connect with her Pokémon the way she had, but again, the positive reinforcement she was getting necessary. The day she had pushed herself beyond her limits, something had broken inside her. I wasn't sure what, but I had felt this deep seated dissatisfaction that was only now rearing its head. The issues she had with her father and her family name had something to do with it.

Hosaki's bond with Yang was quite tenuous—he had only accompanied Yang because she looked like her former trainer. I hadn't had much of a chance to converse with my partner, but I knew something was bothering her, too. I suspected it had to do with her opponent on the train, because from what I had seen of Torchwick's partner, she had been a direct counter to Yang's fighting style. She had come out oddly introspective. Not to say she wasn't intelligent, but she preferred to expend her energy outward, not inward.

All I had to do was prevent my own issues from destabilizing our team. When had I become the emotional center? I was the one who ran away from my problems, letting them fester until the rot was too much to ignore. Who was I to tell people how to work with their feelings?

Togekiss had gracefully waddled over to Ruby's side, and she was stroking the Pokémon's head, letting her calming aura resonate throughout the room. I could see why Cynthia had chosen this Pokémon for her demonstration. My already high respect for her went up another level.

I noticed she was watching me, and I met her gaze. My ears twitched, and she glanced at my bow. Her eyes widened, and my heart sank. I didn't let it show, but Togekiss felt the change in my emotion.

She turned to examine me, and my stomach clenched. I was afraid, and I didn't even know why. But Togekiss just smiled at me, and winked.

The action threw me. I was unsure how to proceed, so I glanced at Weiss. She nodded, ever so slightly.

Hesitantly, I reached up and undid my bow, letting my ribbon flutter to the ground.

* * *

 **Yang vs. Togekiss II**

* * *

I watched Cynthia as Blake revealed her faunus nature. She blinked once, and giggled. "Why are you laughing?" I asked.

 _"The notion that a human could have cat ears—it amuses me,"_ she answered. Straightening, she looked over Blake in detail. _"Blake, am I right in assuming that you are discriminated against?"_

 _I repeated what she said to Blake, and she nodded slowly._ Cynthia sighed. _"Too often, we lash out at those different than us. You have my condolences."_

She turned to Ruby. "Nice too meet yuu, Ruby. I come later to talk." She smiled and left, returning Togekiss to her Poké Ball.

I watched her stride down the hall. Even before she introduced herself to me, I had felt the weight her presence carried. When she had greeted me in Valic, I was even more surprised. She had just started learning, and had a strong accent, but her confidence was backed by an iron will. During the meeting, she had taken charge of the situation, like she'd done it several times before. In fact, she had mentioned that they were just coming off of a crisis….

"Quite the character, isn't she?" I said.

"She is a dangerous woman," said Blake.

"Anyone with power is dangerous," said Weiss. "Anyone with wisdom is deadly."

Ruby coughed. "Enough serious talk. I require cookies!"

"Um, Ruby, I'm not sure if they have cookies here."

"Nonsense. Of course they have cookies."

"Ruby."

"Weiss."

A beat.

The Schnee heiress sighed. "I'll go see if they have any."

"So," I began, "I heard you were already designing your new leg."

"Yup," said Ruby. "I've got some preliminary sketches and more than a few ideas, but I'm not sure how I want to implement them yet."

"I guess the biggest question is what you want the leg to do."

"Well duh. But I get what you mean. I have a lot of ideas, but most aren't practical, and of those that are, a lot don't mesh well. Weight and balance are even more important, and that's not even getting into troubleshooting. That still doesn't answer the most important question, though."

"What's that?"

"Where's my baby? Crescent Rose, where are you?"

I heard Blake sigh, and I chuckled. "She's leaning against the bed, Ruby. It's just, she'll need a bit of repair work."

I handed the weapon to her, which she caressed lovingly. Ruby had still been holding onto Crescent Rose when she went flying, and it showed. I had inspected her myself: several of the blades were bent, the barrel was warped, the ammunition storage jammed, and the handle had several cracks running along its length. Ruby should be able to get her serviceable with the few extra parts she had on hand, but I doubted how efficient the repairs would be. To truly fix Crescent Rose, most of the parts would have to be replaced, and we didn't have the materials to do so.

That had been one of the first things I had checked on after I was let out of the hospital. Weaponry was very different here, due to three factors. First was the presence of Pokémon. They were far more efficient at killing, or could be, than guns or swords. Second, the lack of Dust. I had suspected that was the case, but I had double checked to be sure. Finally, the lack of conflict. There was little reason to make advanced weaponry when there was no chance to use it.

As Ruby went along checking the various mechanisms and parts, I set her maintenance kit on the bed. Her frown kept deepening, but she kept working for the better part of ten minutes. Then she set down her wrench and lay back against the pillows. Her hand was shaking.

"I…I can't…." Tears started to roll down her face. "I can't fix her."

I put my hand over hers, squeezing it gently.

Weiss burst into the room, holding up a bag containing several cookies. "I found some cookies!"

Then she noticed that Ruby was crying, Crescent Rose taken apart on the bed. Hesitantly, she opened the bag and offered her a cookie.

Ruby took the proffered cookie, and ate it silently.

"Thank you," she whispered.

She took a deep breath, and wiped away her tears. "Okay. Okay. We're a dimension away from home, I'm down a leg, and Crescent Rose is currently out of commission. We've got a portal spouting Grimm and there's a Goliath pack on the loose."

Ruby looked me in the eye. "Looks like we've got some work to do."

* * *

 **Last edited: 8/20/15**


	9. Interlude 2: Cynthia

**Interlude 2: Cynthia**

* * *

As I strode down the hall after leaving Ruby's hospital room, I mused on the situation at hand. The appearance of the portals intrigued me, but I was far more interested in what passed through. The four girls, training to become the saviors of their world. Training to defeat the endless horde of Grimm that plagued their existence.

I couldn't sympathize with that kind of life. They lived a lifestyle which meant that any day their companions, their mentors, or they themselves could die.

I frowned. The Grimm were an abomination. I had talked with Beck at length about his observations, and he had revealed a horrible truth. The Grimm were auraless. That explained their single-minded desire for the death of humankind. It also gave me peace of mind. When I went to fight them, I wouldn't have any regrets ending their lives.

Opening the door to the Pokémon Center, I made my way to the meeting room. I had organized another meeting to discuss the situation, without the Huntresses. Aaron, Jamie, and Professor Rowan were already there, and we were just waiting on Flint and Barry.

"How is Ruby doing?" asked Jamie.

"She seemed rather upbeat," I replied. "I can't say I would be the same, but I applaud her attitude."

"Gotta look on the bright side," agreed Flint, as he stepped through the door. "Man, we just have one crisis after another, don't we?"

"I have a theory as to why this particular event is occurring now," I said, "but it will have to wait until Barry is here."

"I'm here!" he cried, slipping in through the closing door. He sat down, breathing heavily, grinning.

"That was well timed," I said. "Now, onto business. I called this meeting to discuss three things. First, the origins of this current crisis. Dimensional instability would be expected, after what Team Galactic did, but the degree of stability is far more than I would have expected. More on that later.

"Second, I wanted to talk about the four Huntresses. They have been a tremendous help in warning us of the dangers we face against the Grimm. And finally, what our response to the first two topics will be."

"You said you have a theory as to why the portals are appearing?" said Aaron.

"I do," I confirmed, "but I would like to go over what we know about the portals, first. Professor Rowan?"

"Yes," said the Professor. "So far, we have identified two different portals, one of which is now closed. It appeared on Mt. Coronet an unspecified amount of time ago, and closed 20 days ago."

"Mt. Coronet?" asked Aaron. "That implies—"

"It does," I said, cutting him off.

"One more element we have to clean up after, I suppose."

"The second portal opened at least six days ago," continued Professor Rowan. "Candice confirmed the sighting of a _Beowolf_ not far from Shelter Town, and returned to Snowpoint to launch a defense, after contacting me about the anomaly. We discovered its location two days ago, and tried to secure the area."

"Then the _Goliaths_ came and everything went to hell," finished Flint. "Okay, Cynthia, what's your theory?"

"There were four things about the portal that led me to my hypothesis," I said. "The first was the uniform stability of the portal. The space between dimensions is known to be nebulous at the best of times. Whatever has created this portal, it has the structure to withstand that environment. The second is that the portals connected to the same dimension or set of dimensions. Normally, this is incredibly unlikely, especially since the two dimensions are so far removed from each other."

"And by far removed each other, you mean…what?" asked Flint. "I doubt you mean physically."

"No. Far removed by their points of divergence. Remnant does not have Pokémon, and we don't have _Grimm_. At least several thousand years, if not more. My third point is the shape of the portals. A large golden ring. Together, the three pieces of evidence imply that these portals were created by an intelligent being."

"You think that a Pokémon is the cause of all this?" asked Aaron.

"Dialga and Palkia are Pokémon," Flint pointed out. "I wouldn't be too surprised by anything at this point."

"I can't think of a Pokémon that would have abilities like this," said Aaron.

"The Pokémon in question is from Kalosian myths, called Hoopa. It is described as carrying around two golden rings with which it can pass objects through. Even itself, if it felt threatened. Mischievous, it liked to play pranks, but also could be quite greedy."

"So you think this is some prank gone wrong?" asked Flint. "That's a bit much, even considering the rest of the evidence."

"But there is one legend, about a boy who gained the trust of Hoopa," I continued. "He was a slave boy, and when the boy was sold to a new master and was beaten, Hoopa did everything in its power to free him. The story is obscure, but it shows a softer side to Hoopa."

"Then, Hoopa is trying to help? How?" asked Barry.

"There is one discrepancy between the two dimensions, which brings me to my final point," I explained. "Yang told me there was a time dilation phenomenon occurring, at a rate of over 20 times."

"Time dilation? But all dimensions flow through time at the same rate," exclaimed Jamie. "That means…."

"Precisely," I finished. "Hoopa is trying to repair the damage Dialga and Palkia did to the multiverse, with its own unintended consequences."

"You did always have the most eccentric theories," said Flint. "I buy it. Let's move on."

I held up my hand. "I'm not quite done yet. We can postulate that the locations have some significance, as well. The first portal was located near the summit of Mt. Coronet. The second is less than thirty kilometers from Lake Acuity. Given the time frame, it is likely that the next portal will appear around the area of Lake Valor."

"The next portal?"

"With a total of four or five, depending on whether a final portal reopens at Mt. Coronet."

"Once again, you have astounded us with your brilliance, Cynthia," said Professor Rowan. "But you wished to talk about the four Huntresses."

"I just returned from Ruby's hospital room. She has regained consciousness, with a surprising amount of emotional stability."

"How do you mean?" asked Barry.

"I sent out my Togekiss to demonstrate the approximate power of a Champion level Pokémon," I explained. "She clued me into their mental states. I won't say much, to protect their privacy, but for the most part, they were more stable than I would have expected, but perhaps that's just a difference in environment. They have no doubt lived through more life and death situations than all of us combined."

"Anything to be watchful for?" asked Jamie.

"Weiss and Blake in particular. Weiss seems to be reevaluating her worldview and self identity. She likely comes from a well to do family, given her mannerisms and speech patterns."

Professor Rowan nodded. "I can confirm, from my interactions, that that seems to be the case."

"Blake is searching for acceptance. She feels marginalized by circumstances outside her control, and she is fighting for that acceptance. Don't ask her about it."

"Wait, is she…?" asked Barry.

"Not to my knowledge," I said. "Like I said, circumstances outside her control. She revealed something to me in confidence, and I will keep it."

"Very well," said Professor Rowan. "Was there much else you wanted to say on this topic?"

"Yes, actually. The matter of their fighting capabilities. From Yang's brief description earlier, we know that they are aura adepts, but focus that on defensive techniques. They use a substance called _Dust_ to fight, activating it with their aura to produce aura-like techniques. They also have a unique ability called a _Semblance_ , but I haven't heard anything like it before."

"Have you gotten into contact with any aura adepts?" asked Aaron.

"I sent a few messages to Riley, an aura adept who resides on Iron Island, but I haven't heard anything back from him. He's the only one I know personally."

"Speaking of Kalos and aura adepts, didn't Gurkinn find a kid who had potential for it?"

"I hadn't heard anything about it," I said. "I think a trip to Kalos may be in order, but we can talk about that later. Barry, you said your Heracross sparred with Yang?"

He nodded. "She's a brawler—fights a lot like her Infernape, actually. Her technical style was good, from what I could see. But she took hits real well, too. Halfway through the spar, she ramped up and started her hair on fire, made a Smokescreen, even breathed some fire. Her punches got a lot stronger after that, from what I could see, but Heracross put her down before she got too out of hand."

"Do you mind showing us your Heracross?" asked Aaron. "It might be useful to compare…."

"Sure." Barry took a Poké Ball from his belt a sent out his Heracross. Aaron stood and gave a quick inspection.

"You've taken quite good care of this Heracross; I'm impressed."

"Thanks. He means a lot to me. I make sure to feed him lots of honey."

"He's powerful, too. Definitely mid-Ace level. Still has good potential, too. If you keep at it, he could be Elite level in a few years."

"Just wait. I'll take you on before you know it."

"I look forward to it," said Aaron. He turned back to me. "If Yang was able to force this Heracross to go all out, she's rather powerful in her own right. I couldn't give her a rating now, not without seeing her in combat, but she could take on the first few Gyms without a problem."

"If I could butt in here," interjected Jamie, looking to me for permission. I smiled. "Metagross informed me yesterday as I was going over some translation data that Blake was practicing Shadow Claw."

"How do you mean?" asked Flint.

"She came up and asked Metagross to demonstrate a Ghost-type attack. He used Shadow Ball, and she stuck her hand into it. Afterwards, she spent her time trying to form a Shadow Claw. Metagross thought she had just started learning how, and wasn't entirely sure how to create Ghost-typed aura, so she asked for help."

"So she was trying to learn an attack she hadn't even seen before?" asked Aaron.

Jamie shook her head. "She was on the team with Beck, and probably saw his Banette use it. My guess is that they didn't even know they could use typed aura before they arrived here."

"Meaning Yang acquired Smokescreen and an Ember variant in less than two weeks without proper instruction," said Professor Rowan. "If they had someone to teach them the ins and outs of their attacks…."

"Kalos is looking like a great idea," said Flint. "So, who's telling Gurkinn?"

"That's sidestepping the issue we still have at hand," I said. "We need to deal with the Goliath pack before we can properly discuss going to Kalos. We don't even know if they will consent to staying longer than necessary."

"Do you think it will be possible to draw off one of the _Goliaths_ from the herd?" asked Aaron. "We could gage their power from there."

"They already lost one," said Flint. "They won't take any risks they won't have to. They're playing a defensive game—that favors them right now. We don't know if they have backup coming or not. But I doubt they would let one get drawn off by itself."

"We have descriptions of the fight that Weiss and Beck gave us," said Jamie. "Beck's Camerupt was reportedly near death from exhaustion. The amount of lava Camerupt would have to expend would be enormous for it to nearly die."

"Consider that the _Goliaths_ are nearly 60 meters tall, and nearly that long as well. To kill something that big, you need something big enough to damage it. They're probably somewhat heat resistant, and I don't think we could round up enough firepower to burn them all down," said Flint. "

"Surgical strikes are probably best," I said. "Garchomp can do most of the heavy work, if it gets the support and distractions it needs. Magmortar, Volcarona, Scizor, Arcanine, Gastrodon. If Beck is willing to still help out, then his Venomoth and Banette could be really helpful."

"If these _Goliaths_ are anywhere near as smart as the girls suggested, then we ought to assume that a strategy only works once. We should have at least ten, maybe fifteen, plans to take down one just in case," said Flint. "I don't want to have any casualties like last time."

"Agreed. The lives of our people and Pokémon should be put before the takedown of the _Goliaths_ ," said Aaron.

"Then," I said, "let's talk strategy."

* * *

 **Pokémon Rower Ranking System** (with approximate game levels):

 **(Baby)** —5-. Not really a category, but it's on the list. Newly hatched Pokémon go here on this list.

 **Learner** —around levels 5-15. The first and second Gym challenges are usually focused on this skill level.

 **Battler 1** —around levels 15-25. Battler was initially one category, but the range it governed was too broad, so they split it in two. Gyms three and four at this level. Beginner tournaments are held for those trainers who get four badges, but if they participate, they can't enter the eight badge tournament in the same year.

 **Battler 2** —25-35. Gyms five and six, generally.

 **Leader** —35-45. Gyms seven and eight, generally. Most trainers participating in the eight badge tournament are also on this level. Some Gym Leaders have stronger Pokémon than this, but all have a challenge team for this skill range.

 **Ace** —45-55. Trainers with Pokémon of this level have usually completed more than one Gym circuit.

 **Elite** —55-65. Most of the Elite Four's Pokémon are at this level. Veteran trainers and other skilled persons compete at this level.

 **Champion** —65-75. Only the best of the best have Pokémon this powerful. Lance's Dragonite, Cynthia's Garchomp, Steven's Metagross, Flint's Infernape, Agatha's Gengar, Oak's Charizard, and other enormously powerful Pokemon are at this level. Some of the lesser legendaries, like Shaymin, Jirachi, the Beast trio, the Bird trio, and the Musketeers are on this level.

 **Legendary** —75+. As you might have guessed, most legendaries are on this level. It is the highest level category. There are very few, if any, regular Pokémon on this level, and those that are are very old, or very powerful, usually both. Gurkinn's Lucario is one of the few known Pokémon considered to be in this category.


	10. Volume 8: Strategy

**Volume 8: Strategy**

* * *

 **Ruby vs. Lucario I**

* * *

Nurse Joy came into my room shortly afterward, giving me a quick check up. I passed the preliminary inspection of health, which meant I had to spend another full day in the hospital before they would let me out. There wasn't a lot I could do anyway, what with my missing leg, but I had a feeling I would start to feel restless soon.

Blake was now in the middle of showing off her new aura skills. She had copied them off of Beck's Banette, and was working hard at perfecting the technique. Seeing her progress made me a little jealous. Yang was doing a lot better with her fire techniques, and Weiss had started some basic ice techniques. They all had their specialties—I didn't. Not yet, anyway.

I knew that I had my own specialty. Each of my teammates specialties corresponded to a type of Pokémon, so I just had to figure out which type suited me the best. There were plenty I could eliminate immediately: Fire, Ice, and Ghost didn't feel right, however much they suited Yang, Weiss, and Blake. I doubted that I was Rock, Ground, Dark, Bug, Poison, or Electric. That left Mind, Basic, Grass, Air, Fighting, Fairy, Dragon, Metal, and Water.

I ruled out Mind, Basic, and Fairy. Miss Goodwitch was likely Mind, but I very much doubted I was. Basic was too plain to consider, and Fairy was too esoteric, so I ruled that out, too. I didn't feel much of a connection with Water; and I felt the same with Metal.

Grass, Air, Fighting, and Dragon remained. Out of these four Dragon and Fighting seemed the least likely. I didn't feel draconic, and I never felt the calling to martial arts or the variety of fighting sports.

But I was divided between Air and Grass. My semblance left rose petals whenever I used it, giving me a strong connection to Grass. But I always felt free as the wind when using my semblance, like at any moment I could break free from the binding coils of the earth and soar. My connection to Grass was likely stronger, but I wished I was Air. Either way, this wasn't the time to worry about it.

A knock on the door interrupted Blake's concentration, and the claw she had formed dissipated. The door slid open to reveal Cynthia, two men standing next to her. Jamie trailed in after them, and took the last remaining chair next to Weiss.

"Ruby, meet Flint and Aaron," said Cynthia. "They is _Elite Four_."

Flint looked to be mid-twenties, with a red afro and hazel eyes. He wore a yellow t-shirt and gray pants, and had a long red belt that looped around to give the impression it wasn't fastened tightly. Aaron looked to be slightly younger, had dark brown hair with green accents, green eyes, and wore a black tank-top and orange pants. Both had a similar presence to Cynthia. Not overpowering, but you could feel when they entered the room.

"Yo," said Flint, removing one of his hands from his pockets to wave.

"Nice meet yuu," said Aaron, managing to be much more dignified.

"Likewise," I said.

"I want talk...aura," said Cynthia.

" _What about aura?"_ asked Yang. " _There is lots we don't know."_

"One, meet Lucario." She retrieved a completely white Poké Ball from her belt. Out popped a large bipedal canine Pokémon. His head, arms, thighs, and tail were covered in blue fur. Black fur covered his hands, feet, and formed a mask-like band on his face. Off white fur finished off his coloration on his torso.

I could feel the aura radiating off of him. I nearly gaped at how powerful he felt. I had gotten an idea of how strong Cynthia's Pokémon were with Togekiss, but it had been hard to read her. But Lucario naturally showed off his power.

My team was similarly awed. Blake was the most ambivalent of us all, but I suspected she had gotten a better read on Togekiss than I had, so Lucario's power hadn't thrown her off as much as it had the rest of us.

Then Lucario surprised us again by speaking. His voice was coated in aura, giving it a truer feeling than normal speech. " _Greetings."_ Beneath that, I felt the aura on the words resonate with my own. _Calm._

Was I sensing his emotions? Or was he broadcasting them? Lucario was so different than anything I had encountered before. He had a stronger presence than Professor Ozpin did, though I suspected that was because he held back his presence, rather than letting it spill out like Lucario did.

"Wow!" I squealed. I wanted to jump out of bed and hug him. I knew doing that was impossible, but I still wanted to.

 _Amusement. "They have strength of soul,"_ he said. " _It is held differently."_ _Curiosity._

" _They are from another dimension,"_ explained Cynthia. " _They use their aura to fight monsters called_ Grimm _. They also have an ability called a_ Semblance _, unique to each person."_

Weiss, taking that as her cue, formed one of her basic glyphs. Lucario stared at the expression of Weiss's soul. _Admiration. Uncertainty._

" _I have never encountered something like this,"_ said Lucario. _Discomfort. "Analyzing it feels like I am intruding on the privacy of her soul. This is beautiful."_

Blake stood up, leaving a clone behind, sitting in the chair. Lucario regarded the clone for a moment. Then he gasped. _Awe._

" _This is the expression of their soul. A manifestation, given form by their aura. I have heard legends about this phenomenon when I trained in the Lucario Kingdom. About Lucario who attuned with their inner nature until their souls manifested in a unique manner. The technique was called_ Realization _."_

"That is not congruous with our experiences," said Weiss. "Anyone who has their aura unlocked has a semblance. It takes training to use aura in other ways."

" _What do you mean by_ unlocked _?"_ he inquired.

"One way to unlock our aura is through a ritual…." said Weiss. She glanced at Cynthia. "Have you ever displayed aura abilities?"

"No," she answered. "Aura only use by people born with it."

Weiss blinked. "Do I have your permission to unlock your aura?"

* * *

 **Weiss vs. Lucario II**

* * *

Cynthia was taken aback. " _Are there any safety concerns during the ritual?"_

I shook my head. "I'll likely be a little tired, but you'll feel more energized and healthy than ever."

"Do it."

I placed a hand on Cynthia's shoulder. "For it is in aspiration that we achieve immortality. Through this, we become a paragon of resplendent mystery to rise above all, infinite in understanding and unbound by knowledge. I release your soul, and by my shoulder protect thee."

As I performed the ritual, she began to glow with the telltale signs of aura. I covered her in my own aura, guiding the process, directing the unbound energy of her life from the depths of her soul into her body. I could feel my aura levels dropping, but I held on, until I felt Cynthia's aura stabilize.

I let out the breath I hadn't realized I was holding and let my hand drop to my side. I suddenly felt tired. Intellectually, I knew that I would be tired after the process, but I hadn't realized the degree of exhaustion that would occur.

The glow around Cynthia faded. " _I feel energized—like I could go days without getting tired."_

"It doesn't quite work like that," I said, "but you will feel more energized. Better memory, limited danger sense, and faster healing are all passive effects of aura. Then there are three kinds of aura manipulation: semblance, defensive, and elemental. Blake and I already demonstrated our semblances. But the defensive aspects are the most notable."

I looked at Blake, and she raised her defensive aura. Then I punched her.

Cynthia, Flint, and Aaron all flinched into slightly defensive stances, while Lucario watched ambivalently. "I punched her hard enough to bruise, without her aura protecting her. But with it active, she can reduce impacts and block blades. Thanks for the demonstration, Blake."

"Next time, I get to hit you," she promised. _Amusement._

"Fair enough." I turned back to Cynthia. "I'll have to start teaching you the basics, but you can also use your defensive aura to enhance weapons, clothing, and other objects while you are in contact with them."

"What about elemental aura?" she asked.

"That's a tricky subject," I said. "It has to do with changing the nature of your aura for an effect, which is a lot more difficult than using your semblance or for defense. It's far more efficient to use your aura for other things."

" _It seems that we take the opposite approach when dealing with aura,"_ said Lucario. " _We primarily use our aura for elemental effects, then defensive, and_ Realization _is beyond rare. It is the same with the few aura adepts I have met."_

"You have aura adepts?" I asked. This was new.

Cynthia nodded. "Rare, but a few exist."

"Would it be possible to arrange a meeting? I am extremely curious about this."

Cynthia frowned. " _I personally only know one aura adept, named Riley, but he hasn't been in contact for a few weeks. He often goes off to rural areas to train. It might be a few months before he emerges again."_

Flint cleared his throat. " _All this discussion is great, but we're missing on the important question here: when am_ I _getting my aura unlocked?"_

I looked to Blake, and then Yang. "I'm too tired to do another one right now. Can either or you…?" I trailed off at their disparaging looks.

"You mean you _don't_ know how to unlock auras?" I said to Blake. "I would have thought...never mind. Flint, Aaron, the short answer is, not now. I'll try and do it soon, but I want to see how Cynthia does."

Cynthia quirked an eyebrow.

"I mean, people usually don't have their aura unlocked so late in life. Most don't have it done, ever," I hastily explained. "Aura is generally unlocked or awakened in hunters before they turn fifteen."

"Awakened?"

"It's possible to awaken your aura through training," I said. "I had mine unlocked, but Hunters-in-training are encouraged to awaken it on their own."

"And awakened aura is same as unlocked?"

"There hasn't been any proven difference."

" _That makes the difference between our auras even more peculiar,"_ mused Lucario. " _Perhaps it has to do with the environment in which the aura is awakened."_

"We'll do some practice tomorrow," I promised. "For now, I could get something to eat. Ruby, any requests?"

"Pancakes!" she declared.

"I'll see what I can do."

It turned out that pancakes were a completely foreign concept in Sinnoh. Yang had to take over and scrounge up the ingredients from the Pokémon Center kitchen. It was actually a neat system: they had a whole host of prepared meals you could purchase, or you could buy individual ingredients and make something yourself. The only requirement—you had to do your own dishes.

The second holdup came when we needed syrup. I knew that syrup was a rare commodity, due to the specific circumstances needed to collect the maple sap necessary to make it, but I had no clue how the process occurred.

Luckily, Blake came to the rescue, and made a berry sauce from a number of sweet berries. We made enough for all eight of us. Barry had mysteriously disappeared, and Rowan had already eaten, but Cynthia, Flint, Aaron, and Jamie were all eager to try the ' _strange_ Valic _concoction'_. The reactions were...mixed.

Both Cynthia and Aaron loved it, but Flint only managed a few bites before he begged off, saying it was too starchy and sweet for him. Jamie politely ate her portion, but refused seconds, leading me to believe she wasn't a fan.

Two out of four wasn't bad, however much Nora would have denied it, and we had fun sharing stories about Beacon. Afterward, Cynthia regaled us with a legend passed down in her family for millennia.

She spoke of the three deities that ruled over three concepts. Dialga, the steel dragon, who governed the passage of time. Palkia, the water dragon, who governed the structure of space. And Giratina, the ghost dragon, who governed the balance of matter and antimatter. Together they ruled over the world, and all was well for a time.

But Giratina, who ruled from the shadows, grew jealous of the worship that his brothers received, as it was far greater than his own. One fateful day, he attacked his brothers, and was banished to the Distortion World, a place where time and space do not function normally. Now confined, his brothers too, retreated into their own separate dimensions, where they have slumbered to this day.

It was an interesting story, but I couldn't help but feel that Cynthia had an ulterior motive for sharing the story. Too many things stood out—Pokémon that ruled over time and space? When that described our very situation? In another dimension while time flowed irregularly between the two.

Were these Pokémon actual beings, as opposed to fictional gods? Had Giratina made another move recently. I was reminded of Candice's words a week ago, about something called 'Team Galactic'. Galactic implied that they were after something greater than the planet. I resolved to ask Cynthia about it.

The seven of us had just finished eating when the door burst open and a man strode into the room. He had a big booming laugh, with wild blond hair and a green jacket that extended to his knees. Barry followed him in dejectedly. Then I recognized him.

He was Barry's father.

" _Hello! The name's Palmer! Nice to meet you all!"_

I stared until I caught myself, and extended my hand. " _I'm Weiss. It's nice to meet you, too."_

He grinned and nearly crushed my hand with his own. " _I've heard all about you from Barry."_ He winked suggestively, and I blushed.

" _I d-didn't s-say anything l-like that!"_ stammered Barry. Palmer laughed again, and slapped Barry on the back.

" _You need to loosen up a bit, son,"_ he advised. " _Otherwise all the cute ones will slip away."_

Barry blushed harder, and I matched him shade for shade.

He cleared his throat, his face becoming serious. " _But I didn't come just to give my son some well-deserved advice."_

He looked Yang in the eye. " _I want to thank you for discovering what happened to my daughter."_

Yang looked a little flustered, but she said, " _I…appreciate your gratitude, but I wish we could have met under better circumstances."_

" _Sometimes, bad circumstances are the best time to meet,"_ said Palmer. " _There is a bond forged through grief that is far sturdier than those formed during the happy times."_

Yang didn't reply.

" _Come. I heard that Hosaki had evolved, and I want to see him again."_

Yang stood hesitantly, but Palmer whisked her away down the hall, and Barry started to follow him out. Then he paused, and looked back at me. " _Sorry about my dad. Sometimes, he gets something into his head, and it won't leave."_

" _It's fine,"_ I deflected.

" _I'll you guys tomorrow."_ With that, he disappeared down the hall, running after his dad and Yang.

Ruby was starting to look a little tired, so we decided to retire for the evening. I hung back around Cynthia as we filed out of the room. She noticed, and raised an eyebrow. I nodded back.

When we reached the Pokémon Center, I told Blake to go on ahead, and that I'd be there soon. Jamie had already split off, and Aaron had picked up on the fact that I wanted to talk to Cynthia alone.

"What you want talk about?" asked Cynthia.

"Do Dialga, Palkia, and Giratina have anything to do with Team Galactic?"

Cynthia sighed, and smiled. "Yes, they do."

* * *

 **Blake vs. Strategy**

* * *

Flint was already in the meeting room when I arrived, though no one else was. I sat down, extending my shadow claws again. I was determined to master the technique—its armor piercing capabilities were enough to excite me. If I could manage to coat Gambol Shroud….

Aaron entered the room with Beck. The older man nodded to me and sat down. _"Cynthia should be along shortly,"_ said Aaron, _"and Palmer arrived a few hours ago."_

 _"I was wondering if we would see any of the Frontier Brains,"_ mused Beck.

Jamie, Barry, Palmer, and Yang came in a moment later. _"Looks like we're just waiting on Cynthia and Weiss, then,"_ said Palmer.

 _"Weiss want talk,"_ I supplied. I was making as much of an effort as I could to learn the language, using a memory technique that Adam had taught me. He had been insistent on me learning as much as I could, both physically and intellectually. Once I learned to read, he showed me several tricks for both reading speed and comprehension. I could safely boast being one of the fastest readers on the planet, taking in pages of information in seconds.

 _"I think we can start without them,"_ said Flint. _"First, the purpose of this meeting is to discuss our response to the threat of the Grimm. We have two objectives: first, we need to eliminate the_ Goliaths _and any remaining_ Grimm _around the portal. Second, we need to investigate the portal, and send Team RWBY home, if possible."_

 _"Earlier today, a few of us discussed some preliminary strategies to deploy against the_ Goliaths _. The biggest issue we will face is their massive size. Palmer, have you been briefed on them?"_

 _"I looked over the file, but I would appreciate a quick rundown of their abilities."_

Aaron spoke up, saying, _"The_ Goliaths _stand about 60 meters tall and about as long and have incredibly durable skin. They have an acid which they spray through their trunk, which is explosive. They have shown great heat and cold resistance, withstanding volcanic temperatures from Beck's Camerupt for some time."_

 _"_ 60 _meters?"_ said Palmer incredulously. _"I missed the memo on that. How many are there again? Five?"_

Aaron nodded. "They are also extremely intelligent, and will adapt and innovate ways to defeat us," I added. "We got lucky killing the first one."

 _"So we're basically trying to kill five Legendary rank monstrosities, then."_ Palmer whistled. _"This is gonna be a fun meeting."_

The door creaked open, revealing Cynthia and Weiss. Weiss took a seat next to me, contemplating something. "What did you talk about?" I whispered to her once Flint started talking again.

 _"—hoping to drop one in the first attack, if we can. Go for the biggest, and all that. If we boost Cynthia's Garchomp—"_

"I'll tell you later," she whispered back.

 _"—the whole works: Sandstorm, Swords Dance—"_

 _"My Venomoth has Baton Pass,"_ put in Beck. _"I usually pass to Camerupt or Bellossom, but I should be able to pass to someone else."_

 _"Do we have any Simple users?"_ asked Palmer. _"My Grumpig has Skill Swap—that's ripe for some abuse."_

 _"I have a Shuckle with Contrary,"_ said Aaron.

 _"Pair her up with my Infernape, maybe? Other Close Combat users?"_ suggested Flint.

 _"I wonder about Destiny Bond and Pain Split,"_ said Beck. _"If we could capture a test_ Grimm _..."_

 _"Worth looking into,"_ said Cynthia.

 _"You have to be quick,"_ said Yang. _"_ Grimm _die while captured."_

 _"That brings up other status abuse, though,"_ said Jamie. _"My Magneton has Thunder Wave and Metal Sound, and my Tyranitar has Screech. Other debuffs?"_

 _"With Contrary, we could use those,"_ said Aaron. _"My Volcarona has String Shot and Tailwind, though that would be better used against the Goliaths."_

 _"I think we have some starting ideas,"_ said Cynthia, _"but we're disorganized. Let's each debrief each other on the capabilities of each of our Pokémon, and we can work on specific strategies from there. We have a lot to work through, but we have some time. We'll be continuing this tomorrow."_

I had tried to pay attention to the quick bouncing back and forth of ideas, but I didn't know what they were talking about, most of the time. I had some guesses, but I was taking notes to look through the Pokédex later. But the one thing I got from this meeting was hope. They were optimistic about our chances of winning.

Not to say that I hadn't been, but the Goliath had torn us apart. It had taken out Yang before she could really start to do damage, and Weiss's Dust bomb only managed to work because we caught it off guard. I had to use up almost all of my aura to power a strike through its hide and lock it in place with an ice clone.

Over the next two and a half hours, each member broke down the abilities of each of their Pokémon, while Jamie and her Metagross recorded everything. I was starting to get a feel for what kinds of techniques Pokémon could use.

Oh, how jealous I was. They had temporary buffs to offense, defense, and speed; they had abilities unique to their species that, with certain techniques, could be _transferred_. Some had self-healing techniques. And then the offensive moves.

I had already seen some of the destructive power of some Pokémon like Camerupt, but on a local scale they could control the _weather_. The variety was astounding. Lightning bolts, lava, tornadoes, water manipulation, energy draining—the list went on and on. I asked Beck about the teleporting technique that Banette had used.

His answer surprised me. It wasn't teleportation: it was phazing through reality. I wanted that technique. Beck offered to let me borrow Banette for a training session tomorrow morning while they continued strategizing. I accepted immediately. It was a chance to break down the abilities I was trying to learn.

If there was one thing they were, it was thorough. They didn't want to leave anything to chance—not when their lives were on the line. Once they finished talking about 70 Pokémon or so, they called it good for the night.

As Weiss, Yang, and I went back to our room, I asked about Weiss's conversation with Cynthia.

"Well, you remember the legend that Cynthia told us over dinner," began Weiss.

I nodded. "About Dialga, Palkia, and Giratina."

"The legend is true." I stared at her. "Or, at least, Dialga, Palkia, and Giratina exist, and they are every bit as powerful as the legend stated."

"There's more, isn't there," said Yang.

Weiss nodded. "Recently, there was a criminal group called Team Galactic. Their goal was to create a new universe—one without the sadness and cruelty that exists in this one."

"They wanted to create a new universe?" Yang exclaimed.

"Yes. Apparently, Cyrus, the leader of Team Galactic, was well versed in legend, and knew about the potential Dialga and Palkia had. So he hatched a plan to control them."

"How would you control beings of that power?" I wondered.

"They had a plan for that. In addition to Dialga, Palkia, and Giratina, there are three more _Legendaries_ called Azelf, Mesprit, and Uxie."

" _Legendaries_?" I asked.

"A classification for beings of that power. There are quite a number of others, from what I gathered. Anyway, Azelf, Mesprit, and Uxie have domain over three concepts: Willpower, Emotion, and Knowledge. They used an explosion to awaken the three, and captured them."

"If they are as powerful as Dialga and Palkia, how were they captured?" asked Yang.

"They aren't. Dialga, Palkia, and Giratina are considered to be among the most powerful, but Azelf, Mesprit, and Uxie are lesser Legendaries. Team Galactic recruited a few powerful trainers to help capture the trio, and then analyzed the data from them. With that, they created what they called a _Red_ _Chain_.

"After that, they travelled to the summit of Mt. Coronet, where there exists a place called _Spear_ _Pillar_. There, they summoned Dialga and Palkia."

"Wait, isn't that where we came out of the portal?" asked Yang.

"We came out on Mt. Coronet, but not in _Spear_ _Pillar_. Now, while Team Galactic was doing all this, the Pokémon League was trying to stop them. Cynthia and a number of other trainers showed up, but the three Commanders delayed them enough to summon Dialga and Palkia. Then they used the _Red_ _Chain_ , and it worked."

"What then?" I pressed.

"Azelf, Mesprit, and Uxie escaped, and tried to stop the two."

"But they weren't powerful enough," I guessed.

"Right. They had just been imprisoned, and weren't as strong anyway. Cyrus started the creation of his universe, but he was interrupted by Giratina. He destroyed the _Red_ _Chain_ , but now the two _Legendaries_ were free and not at all happy. They started rampaging, taking out their anger on the trainers there. Cyrus escaped into his new universe, and the Commanders disappeared. Giratina managed to stop Dialga and Palkia with the help of Azelf, Mesprit, and Uxie, and they calmed down enough to return to their respective dimensions."

"When did this happen?" I asked. But I suspected the answer.

"Just over a month ago. Enough time for there to have two weeks for the first portal, and a two week break before this one."

"So they're the reason we're here," I said. "They have to be."

"Cynthia hinted that there might be more going on," added Weiss, "but that this was what we needed to know for sure. She's doing some investigating on the side, but she says that she'll need time before she finds anything concrete."

"We need to tell Ruby," said Yang.

"Tomorrow," I said. "She's probably already asleep, and she needs her rest. I for one, am looking forward to that. It's been an eventful day."

"Alright, but first thing tomorrow morning."

We said goodnight, and I went straight to bed. There was a lot I could dwell on, but there was so much to look forward to in the morning, so I let the thoughts fade and drifted off to sleep.

* * *

 **Yang vs. Evolution**

* * *

As soon as I woke up, I jogged across to the hospital to check on Ruby. She was still sleeping, so I went to breakfast. Blake was finishing up as I sat down across from her.

"Morning," I said.

"Good morning."

"What are you up to today?"

"I'm training with Banette today."

I dug into my meal. "Hosaki is being let out today. I want to spar with him a bit, see how he's changed."

"Good luck." She stood, placing her dishes on the counter on her way out. I watched her leave, and sighed.

She was struggling with something, but I couldn't put my finger on it. The last few days we hadn't talked much, as we had been busy with the patrols, and then dealing with the aftermath of the Goliath. It could be Ruby's injury, but I wasn't sure. I resolved to investigate later.

I returned to our room ten minutes later, stuffed, and arrived to find Weiss going through her morning routine. As she was putting up her hair, she asked, "How's Ruby?"

"Still sleeping, last I checked. I was going to stop by after a shower, but we can go now if you like."

She shook her head. "No, go ahead. That'll give me time for breakfast, then. See you in a bit."

After I finished showering, I went to Ruby's room. Weiss was already there, and from the looks of it, had already told her of Team Galactic and Dialga, Palkia, and Giratina. "Morning Ruby. How're you feeling?"

"Great. How about you?"

"Fine. Weiss told you about Team Galactic, then?"

She nodded. "I'd like to meet them."

"Team Galactic?"

"Dialga, Palkia, and Giratina—duh."

"Yeah, yeah."

"Oh, I wanted to ask: do you think it's possible to let me play with an Air Pokémon? I think I might be an Air-type, and I want to see how it works."

"I'll go and ask," volunteered Weiss. "I know you had other plans, Yang."

"What were you going to do?"

"I was planning on sparring with Hosaki a bit. Since he evolved, he probably wants to get a feel for his new body."

And boy, wasn't that a surprise. When it happened, I had too much else on my mind, but one of the first things I had asked about was Hosaki's transformation. Rowan gave me a thorough breakdown of evolution, but some of it made me even more confused.

Probably the most confusing aspect of evolution was the various methods it occurred as. The maturity evolution made sense, as did the bonding evolution, but they just got more confusing from there.

Technique evolution was the next logical method. But the final three were a little bizarre. First, there were the evolutionary stones. They gave off a specific wavelength of radiation that when it came into contact with the Pokémon, resonated, and donated all of its energy into fueling the evolution. Rowan didn't have any examples on hand, which was unfortunate, but he did have an item from the second bizarre evolution method.

Evolutionary items made little sense to me. Like the _Protector_ Rowan showed me, they resembled evolutionary stones, but were manufactured by numerous companies to induce evolution. I asked how they were developed, but Rowan didn't have a satisfactory answer. The whole thing was confusing.

But not as much as the final evolutionary method. There were a number of Pokémon that, when exposed to a certain environment, evolved. Mt. Coronet had especially strong magnetic fields, so a few Pokémon, under the right conditions, evolved. What made even less sense were the two other locations in Sinnoh this occurred. Eterna Forest and Route 217. The way he explained it left me extremely curious about it, as it seemed that these places inherently had that characteristic, and I couldn't reconcile that with my knowledge of geography and biology. There had to be something I was missing.

Evolution was notable in a number of ways. First, it was a permanent transformation. That alone would have made it special, as there were some Semblances that allowed transformations, but nothing like this. The one example I remember the clearest appeared in one of the Mistral Tournaments a few years back, and her Semblance caused snake scales to grow all over her body. After a while, they would shed, leaving her skin unblemished. I couldn't recall her name, but her Semblance stood out as more than average.

But evolution was also notable because certain Pokémon changed typing or abilities upon the transformation. There wasn't any precedent for anything like this on Remnant, but it still popped out at me.

I opened the door to Hosaki's room. He was now sitting up, while a Chansey checked him over. I waved, and he waved back. Chansey gave him one final pat, and smiled at me.

"Spar?" I asked. Hosaki's eyes lit up, and he hopped to his feet.

"We start easy," I told him as we walked to the training center from the Pokémon Center. It was a large building on the other side of the Pokémon Center from the hospital, but we walked fast enough that we made short time.

I noticed several other trainers practicing, but I ignored them. Blake was off in a corner with Banette. She was concentrating hard, so I didn't bother her, instead reserving one of the training fields for us.

We did a few stretches beforehand to loosen up, and shook hands. Before either of us moved, I analyzed his stance. There were a few minor shifts from his previous style which could be attributed to his new body type, but I was excited to find out what else may have changed.

I led with a punch, testing his new reflexes. From what I knew and had seen, evolution provided a strong boost in base abilities. But now I was able to test that.

We exchanged a few more blows, and fell into a comfortable rhythm for a minute. That changed when Hosaki escalated, throwing an enhanced punch. I took on the shoulder and tried to trip him, but he used his tail to balance himself out and jumped over me, slathering flames as he did. I spun, but he threw another enhanced punch to knock me off balance, and I fell over.

I rolled, dodging his first strike, and lunged. I could feel the power increase he had gotten, but he was still unused to using it. I was going to use that against him.

Two punches and a kick later, I engaged my plan. Breathing a cloud of smoke, I darted in and knocked him off balance with a strike to the solar plexus, and another blow to the upper back to put him down. I put my foot over his chest and grinned.

Now that he knew I wasn't going to go easy on him, we started the second spar. This time, we built up quickly, trying to lay as much damage as we could on each other in a short period of time. I won again, but it was a lot closer.

The third spar was the deciding spar. I took things slowly, putting down his attempts to escalate, and tried to wear him out. I was impressed with his endurance, as we fought for more than fifteen minutes before he started to slow. Long fights were decidedly my territory, and I pulled out another victory, but not before Hosaki put in a few of his dirty tricks.

Suitably warmed up, I started the training session for real. We worked through stances, slowly accelerating them, and put them into practice with short spars of less than thirty seconds each. I made sure to place several breaks when necessary, but as we went on, I could tell that Hosaki was tiring.

Just before lunchtime, we stopped with the physical activity, and moved onto aura manipulation. I had practiced some of my fire techniques, but now was the time to master them. About an hour was spent trying to balance out the amount of aura with my newfound knowledge. Channeling through my Semblance helped, but I disliked relying on it, as it cost me more aura to maintain.

Hosaki's flame powers had increased as well, so he was testing his limits while I practiced. Occasionally, I would take a break and watch him, just to see what he was doing with his aura.

I came out with a few new observations, but nothing ground-breaking. Before we went to lunch, I had a Chansey check him over again, to make sure he wasn't overexerting himself. He hadn't been, but I promised that we would take the afternoon off. Besides, I wanted to see what Cynthia and the rest had come up with.

I felt at home here. The new challenges were so tangible, just waiting for me to overcome them. And the treacherous little thought came into my head. _Maybe it wouldn't be so bad if we were stuck here._

* * *

 **A/N:** Just to clarify, I did remove trade evolutions. They don't make sense in this kind of world (bar Shelmet and Karrablast). Unique evolutions aren't mentioned, like Sylveon, Malamar, Shedinja, Mantyke, etc.

 **Last Edited: 8/20/15**


	11. Volume 9: Preemption

**A/N: The previous chapters have been updated to reflect a minor change in Volume 4. You may want to reread Blake's POV again—the changes there propagate throughout.**

 **Volume 9: Preemption**

* * *

 **Ruby vs. Braviary**

* * *

While Weiss was fetching my partner for the day, an Audino brought me breakfast. I was feeling much more rested and ready to move around more, but I didn't want to push my leg. Weiss returned, bringing with her one of Cynthia's Luxury Balls.

"This is Braviary," she said. "Cynthia said he was a little temperamental, but thinks you'll get along well."

She sent him out. He had red feathers on his back, and blue on his underside. A white crown with three more red feathers gave him an impressive stature. He was close to my height, and he strutted over to the side of my bed.

 _"Hello, Braviary,"_ I said. I activated my aura. _"My name is Ruby. I try to learn Air techniques. You help?"_

He stuck out his chest, and I reached out my hand to stroke him. He accepted my petting for a minute. Then I channeled a portion of my aura into my hand. He eyed it warily. Concentrating, I threw the gathered aura. I was imitating something I had seen Barry's Staraptor do while dueling with the Nevermores. He had thrown some kind of cutting air disk, but I had little practice trying something like this.

Braviary watched my attempt, I gestured for him to show me how to do it. He formed a small cutting edge, and let it fly across the room.

I realized that throwing around cutting techniques inside a hospital was a bad idea _just_ as the air blast collided with the wall, cracking the drywall and knocking the picture that hung there to the ground. It wasn't ten seconds before a Chansey threw the door open and started lecturing us. I was embarrassed, but Braviary refused to accept he had been in the wrong, shifting all the blame onto me.

 _"Is there practice room we use?"_ I asked the Chansey. She held up one finger, and disappeared.

 _"I'm sorry,"_ I apologized to Braviary. _"I not think."_

He preened. I stroked him some more before a nurse came along. When she saw the damage to the wall, she glanced at me. I smiled. _"I'm sorry. I want to practice technique, but not think about damages. Is there place practice?"_

The nurse smiled back. _"Let me get a wheelchair. As long as you don't exert yourself, you can go to the training center with your Pokémon."_

I was about to correct her, to say that Braviary wasn't my Pokémon, but she had already left. Weiss just sighed. "Ruby, I could have told you that was a bad idea."

"Yeah, I'm sorry."

The nurse came back with a wheelchair, and helped me into it. I returned Braviary, placing the Poké Ball on my lap. _"I can take her,"_ said Weiss. _"I know where place is."_

The nurse smiled, and said to me, _"Take is easy, and be back in two hours for a checkup."_

We took an elevator down to the tunnel floor. I had heard mention of the tunnel several times, but it was kind of cool. They had lights embedded into the walls, and the tiled floor had a zig-zag pattern of white and mint green. Fifteen minutes later, we arrived at the training center.

The place was mostly a large open room with an especially large ceiling. There were maybe half a dozen trainers in the room, each training with their Pokémon. I tried to identify as many as I could: a Buizel training his water techniques; a Staravia running drills on her dives; a Vulpix practicing emitting embers from his coat; a Bibarel sparring with a Luxio. There were two more I didn't recognize—a purple balloon practicing what looked like a Shadow Ball, and a bug covered in leaves—which I resolved to look up in the Pokédex later.

Barry had let me borrow his, so I had taken to looking through and memorizing each Pokémon I could while I was on break between patrols. I could name about 200 of them off the top of my head, but there were still so many more than that. I had prioritized learning about the ones I saw, but there were a few I couldn't help but look at.

A few of the Pokémon that stood out included Charizard, Machamp, Kabutops, Houndoom, Crobat, Sceptile, Breloom, Milotic, Krookodile, Pyroar, and Dragalge. I liked each of them for different reasons, except for Houndoom. They were eerily similar to Grimm, though I knew that they wouldn't be like that in real life.

Blake was off in one corner practicing with Beck's Banette, while Yang was sparring with Hosaki center stage. I decided not to bother them, instead directing Weiss to an unoccupied corner. A few of the trainers had become distracted by Yang and Hosaki's spar, pointing and whispering to each other.

I sent Braviary out. It was time to get to work. I started by requesting him to show me what he had done earlier.

With more space to let loose, he amped up the power of his technique. As he flew, a visible disk of air began to spin, and he threw them at the ground, kicking up a large cloud of dust. When the dust settled, there was a large gash through the floor. I motioned for him to return to me, and told him to build the technique up slowly, while standing next to me.

As best I could, I imitated his form, trying for a much smaller disk than his. From what I had seen of Yang, Weiss, and Blake, it was best if you started small. So I did.

My first attempt did little more than stir the dust on the floor, but I was happy getting at least some result. Twisting my aura into a disk was difficult, but I did my best. I alternated between mimicking Braviary and watching him perform for the better part of an hour and a half, until my aura was depleted enough it was beginning to become harder to use it.

Weiss had left soon into my training session, citing a desire to talk to Candice, leaving me to try and maneuver myself around. I rolled myself over to Blake, who was still practicing with Banette. When she noticed me, she walked over.

"You're out of your room," she commented.

"Yup." I grinned. "The nurse let me out on the condition I didn't overexert myself. Weiss took me here when I didn't think about collateral damage inside a hospital room."

"What were you practicing?"

"It wasn't me," I protested.

"Ruby," intoned Blake, "do you take me for a fool?"

"It really wasn't. Cynthia let me borrow her Braviary for the day, and I told him to use the technique that Barry's Staraptor was using against the Nevermores."

"Braviary?"

I pointed to where he was currently floating. "That's him."

"How did your practice go?"

"Well, it's a little resource intensive, but I think I'm starting to get what I'm supposed to do." I demonstrated, showing her the progress I had made.

The disk was still very transparent, but it gouged out a sliver of the floor. Blake looked suitably impressed.

"How about you?" I asked. "What have you been working on?"

"I'm still trying to master Shadow Claw," said Blake. "It's more functional that it was before, but I still have a ways to go. These aura techniques are hard."

I nodded. "I'm months from the skill Braviary has over Air Slash."

She demonstrated her Shadow Claw for me. She had moved on from just using it on one finger, but it still only extended about an inch from her fingernails. I looked at Banette, and he took his cue, showing me the mastered version.

A hand of shadow superimposed itself over Banette's arm, five large fingers protruding and extending several feet before dissipating. I whistled. Blake was still a long way off.

"How much aura are you putting into it?" I asked.

"Not a lot," she admitted.

"Why don't you triple the amount you put in, and see what happens?"

She shrugged, and focused. A blob of shadow clung over her fingers, and she furrowed her brow as she tried to direct the shadowy mass. For half a second, three stubs emerged, trying to form fingers, but didn't hold. Blake let out her breath.

"I think I know what I was doing wrong," she said. "I was feeding aura to the technique little by little, instead of starting with a large amount and going from there."

"That can't be the rule though," I said, "because Yang's fire is a continuous stream."

"I think that's because she has to constantly generate new fire," speculated Blake. "My technique doesn't change at all once it's done, but hers goes for as long as she puts new aura in. Two categories of techniques, then."

"That's a useful distinction," I said. "Mine would be like yours, and what Weiss was trying to do with her cold air would be like Yang's."

"Reminds me of the three categories of techniques they use. They have physical, for attacks that make contact, special, for ranged attacks, and status moves as a catch all for stuff that doesn't do immediate damage."

"I don't recall seeing any status moves," I said.

"Actually, do you remember the Gyarados?" When I nodded, she continued. "The dark green aura it emitted? That was a boosting move. It's called Dragon Dance, and it boosts your physical power and speed."

"That sounds incredibly useful."

"Apparently, they're really difficult to use properly, and they wear off after a while—faster the more you boost."

"Still, having a boosting move would really help," I said.

"That's something to think about for the future. We need to focus on mastering what we're learning now before we can think about other techniques."

"Yeah."

"Were you getting hungry at all? I'm about ready for some lunch, myself. I could take you to the cafeteria," offered Blake.

"Not really, but I'm low on aura, so I was planning a long break anyway. If you want to take me, I'll go."

Blake returned Banette, and I did the same for Braviary. As we exited the training center, I asked, "Was there much from the strategy meeting you got last night?"

"Mostly they were talking about synergy. Not all of them have fought together before, so they were mostly going over their Pokémon's capabilities. A lot of it was really interesting, but it was hard to follow because I didn't know which techniques they were referencing. I was going to watch their training session this afternoon, to see exactly what they were talking about."

I a little quieter, I asked. "Do you think they stand a chance?"

"They sounded pretty optimistic," said Blake.

"But what do you think?"

"I think they're going to pull out on top."

"It's just, last time we were so lucky. I...just thinking about all the ways it could have gone wrong..."

Blake put a hand on my shoulder. "Hey, where's the girl who said, 'Let's kill it'?"

"Back in the forest, with her leg bleeding out."

She squeezed my shoulder. "Good thing she had her teammates to rescue her, then."

"Yeah."

We arrived at the cafeteria in silence. I spotted Yang, and directed Blake over to her.

"How was your morning?" I asked.

"Ruby!" Yang exclaimed. "You're in a wheelchair."

"I was getting restless and breaking things."

"What were you breaking?" demanded Yang.

"I just assisted in the fragmentation of a wall," I said.

Yang laughed.

I pouted. "What's so funny?"

"Sorry, you just cracked me up."

I sighed. "I saw some of your training with Hosaki. Was there anything specific you were working on?"

"I mainly wanted to get him accustomed to his new body," said Yang.

"Cool. I was..." I trailed off when I noticed Weiss running in. She saw me waving, and hurried over.

"Weiss. What's—"

"The Goliaths..." she panted. "They're moving on Shelter Town."

* * *

 **Weiss vs. Sneasel**

* * *

"How long until they reach there?" asked Blake.

"I don't know," I answered. Candice had received a call while we were talking, and when she relayed the information to me, I had run off to find my teammates. I was annoyed that my conversation had been interrupted, but I knew my irritation wouldn't change anything. Candice was fun to talk to, and after the fight was over, I was going to find her again.

One of the first things I had asked her was why she wasn't participating in the Goliath fight. She replied that her job as a Gym Leader was to protect the people, first and foremost, in an event like this. As much as she wanted to fight, she was going to only fight defensively and would put her efforts on evacuating people over directly confronting the Goliaths. She also added that she felt that the Goliaths were out of her league. Then she had to return her little bipedal weasel Pokémon because he was being troublesome.

I could respect that. She knew her limits, and wasn't afraid to take the defensive option. And that's what needed to happen now.

"What're we waiting for?" asked Yang. "Let's get suited up."

"Actually, Cynthia requested that we sit this battle out."

Yang frowned. I knew she was going to be the one that took the request the worst. She had been swatted aside by the first Goliath, and she wanted to prove she was more than that. But Blake understood. I could see it in her calm expression. We were hopelessly outmatched against them. To make matters worse, Blake and I were out of Dust. Yang was still dangerous without her weapon. Blake and I...less so.

"And do what?" Yang asked. "Nothing?"

"Yang, you're really the only combat capable against the Goliaths out of all of us," I said. "I'm out of Dust, which limits my offensive potential greatly. Blake doesn't have enough aura to go for very long when she has to supercharge her attacks just to break their skin. Ruby…."

She sighed. "I get that. But it doesn't feel right to stand by when others are risking their lives to do _our_ job."

"It's no more our job than theirs," argued Blake. "They are the primary defenders for their citizens. They have _more_ claim to this fight than we do."

"Still…."

"They want us with Rowan at the communication hub," I added. "We'll still be able to hear what's going on with the battle."

"We should get going, then," said Ruby. I grabbed her wheelchair, and together, the four of us headed to the communication hub.

The communication hub was just the meeting room we had been using repurposed with a new computer to track the radio transmissions. To my surprise, Cynthia was there.

 _"What you doing here?"_ I asked. _"Not with others?"_

She shook her head. "Portal alone. I check out. My Pokémon okay alone."

My eyes widened. Was she going to…?

"Want to go home?"

 _"But what about you all?"_ cried Ruby.

"We okay alone," said Cynthia.

I wasn't sure what to say. My mouth had dried up.

"Even though we don't know the root of the portals?" asked Blake.

"What if last portal?"

I was torn. I was surprised that I was torn. There was something _freeing_ about this place. I couldn't place it. But here I wasn't being constantly evaluated, analyzed for any mistakes. Beacon had been a taste of that freedom. I now had more self expression than I ever did before.

"Do you think this will be the last portal?" asked Yang.

Cynthia smiled. "I think there will be two, maybe three more. But I be wrong."

"If there's a strong chance there will be more portals, my vote is to stay."

A beat.

Blake frowned, considering my words. Ruby smiled at me.

"I think we should stay, too," she declared. "But if you both say we should go back, then we will."

"I think we should take this chance while we can," said Blake. "If there aren't any more portals, then we're stuck here forever."

"Why do you think there will be more portals?" I asked Cynthia.

"Because of where portals are. _Mt. Coronet_ , close to _Lake Acuity_. I think two or three more portals. One at _Lake Valor_ , one at _Lake Verity_ , and maybe one more at _Mt. Coronet_."

That...made a lot of sense, actually. It would explain why the portals were where they were. The three lakes were connected to Uxie, Azelf, and Mesprit. Since they had intervened in the fight between Dialga and Palkia, it was safe to assume at least _some_ connection remained.

"Yang," said Ruby, "you have the deciding vote."

"I...vote we stay. I think there's a lot we can still do to help. Not to mention all the new aura techniques."

Cynthia looked surprised. _"Thank you."_

"I still would like to check out the portal," said Blake.

"You come with me."

The radio crackled, and Rowan picked up. _"We're getting into position. We can see the Goliaths on the horizon. ETA fifteen minutes."_

 _"Understood."_

Once Cynthia and Blake left, it was a tense wait while the Goliaths approached. Flint called in every couple of minutes to confirm the situation. I didn't know much of what they had planned, but I hoped it was enough.

 _"Preparing to engage. On my count. Five. Four. Three. Two. One. Now!"_

* * *

 **Blake vs. Meowstic**

* * *

We traveled to the portal on the back of Cynthia's Braviary. I was initially surprised to find that he could hold both of us in flight, but Pokémon were deceptively strong, and any Pokémon owned by the Champion more so.

The area around the portal was still a mess. Burnt and shattered trees, scorched earth, and an area of basaltic rock where Camerupt's lava had cooled. Snow had drifted in, but there had been no significant precipitation since the battle. As we drew close to land, I spotted an Ursa, and pointed it out to Cynthia.

She gave an order to Braviary, who formed an Air Slash and let the giant spinning disk slice through the Ursa's upper body. The disk was at least twice as large than what he had used in the training room, and it cleaved the Ursa in two.

Landing, Cynthia walked up to the portal and pulled out three Poké Balls. She returned Braviary, sending out Lucario and a cat-like Pokémon I didn't recognize. She had white fur, with navy blue accents and amber eyes.

Together, we examined the portal. The color of the portal was different than I remembered—more of a dark blue, rather than the pure black it had been previously. I poured aura into my eyes, but it revealed nothing to me. Lucario, on the other hand, had a more definite reaction.

 _"This portal is most unusual,"_ he said. _"It feels as though a perfectly round hole has been cut from reality and then matched up with another perfectly round hole. I cannot sense beyond this hole, but I feel it."_

 _"Meowstic, any observations?"_ asked Cynthia.

The bipedal cat shook her head. Cynthia sighed. _"I'm tempted to go through the portal, but I am unsure of what potential consequences there might be."_

"There could be any number of Grimm on the other side," I pointed out.

 _"That's a risk I'm willing to take."_

I looked her over once again. I knew by now that she was adventurous and calculating. That was a dangerous combination, as it meant that she pushed herself to the edge of her capabilities as often as she could.

"I'll go first," I said. "When I get to the other side, I'll throw two rocks back to let you know I'm okay. If it's only one rock, come through to help. If I don't throw any…." I trailed off.

"Wait for about three minutes before giving up on me," I continued. She nodded, and taking a deep breath, I stepped through the portal.

The portal was just as disorienting as the first time, though in reverse. Colors stretched out and swirled at various speeds, until I stepped out the other end.

I immediately evaluated my surroundings, and finding no Grimm to be in the vicinity, I picked up two rocks and tossed them through the portal. I was in a forest, but there were no landmarks I could recognize from the ground. I climbed a tree, but there was nothing that I saw that I had seen before. It was at times like this that I wished I had my scroll, as it could have given me a better idea of where I was. But I had forgotten my solar charger, a mistake I wouldn't be making again.

As the scent of the forest enveloped me, I realized just how much I had missed the smells of Remnant. Sinnoh had a different quality of air, and coming back to the familiar, I could smell the difference.

Down below, Cynthia emerged from the portal, Lucario and Meowstic close on her heels. I could see both Pokémon flinch as the new environment assaulted them. Lucario's reaction seemed to be more tempered than Meowstic's, but that didn't surprise me.

I returned to the ground. "Welcome to Remnant," I said.

 _"It feels different here,"_ she commented. _"The air is oppressive here."_

"We are deep in Grimm territory. I don't know exactly where we are, which presents a potential problem later on."

 _"What is your analysis, Lucario?"_ asked Cynthia.

 _"Everything around me is full of aura,"_ he whispered in awe. _Wonder. "Even the plants express it more vibrantly."_

"I never really noticed," I said. "I guess I just got used to sensing that."

 _"But I can feel the taint of Grimm. Their repulsive wake is easily identifiable in the beauty of this place."_

I blinked. "You can tell whether or not a Grimm has been here recently?"

 _"I can tell you what kind of Grimm passed through here three days ago,"_ said Lucario. _Disgust. "Their wakes are counter to aura, standing out more than a lighthouse on a new moon."_

"Could you teach me?" I blurted. I realized a moment later that I had no idea _how_ to ask for a favor, but the words had already escaped my mouth.

 _"It would be my pleasure,"_ replied Lucario. _Amusement. Danger!_ He stiffened, and I sensed the Grimm seconds later. It was coming from the left of the portal, and I drew Gambol Shroud, ready to take it on. Lucario was meditating, and I could feel his aura output doubling.

The Grimm burst through the trees, snapping its large jaws at Cynthia. Meowstic interposed herself between them and raised a bright blue barrier. Lucario formed a blue ball of aura in either hand and launched them at the Grimm. It flexed its neck, dodging, but the spheres recurved around, striking it behind the head.

The Grimm brought its tail around, slamming Lucario into a tree. I rushed in, using two clones to dodge tail swipes and slashed at its neck.

I had no time to react as the Grimm's neck split into three, and the second head lunged forward. A psionic blast from Meowstic saved me, and I rolled and flipped backwards, trying to gain some distance to think.

We were facing a Balaurus, a three headed draconic Grimm that liked to confuse its foes by pretending it only had one head. Meowstic had saved me from an excruciating death, because as Balaurus saliva left the mouth, it solidified, making easy prey of any covered with it.

"Don't let the saliva hit you!" I warned as Lucario went in for round two. He formed dozens of miniature aura spheres and launched them to distract the Balaurus. Then he blurred and struck the Balaurus's neck with a glowing fist, knocking it back.

I sneaked around the side, and sent an aura enhanced swing at the Balaurus's side. I swung again, aiming for the hind leg. One of the Balaurus's heads rushed at me, and I used a clone to leap up, slashing down on the Balaurus's mask, shattering it into fragments and slicing the head in two. I drove Gambol Shroud as deep as I could into the Balaurus's back.

The Balaurus bucked, trying to throw me off its back, and this gave Lucario the opening to blast the Balaurus with a multicolored beam. The beam ate away at the Balaurus's flesh, and I heaved Gambol Shroud out of the Balaurus and jumped off.

The Balaurus tried to spit at Lucario, but Meowstic formed a psychic barrier and block the saliva. Lucario doubled the output on the beam, and vaporized the the upper half of the Balaurus's body.

I tried not to stare excessively at Lucario, who didn't even seemed winded from the fight. I would have died fighting the Balaurus solo, though I had no doubts my team could win. At least, we could at full strength. With Ruby down a leg...and down on her attitude.

She was struggling to stay positive. The Breach had affected her more than Weiss or Yang realized, but I noticed the way had gripped Crescent Rose. While she might not have directly killed anyone, many of the White Fang members hadn't made it out of the tunnel. When she had asked about the plan, I had said that I thought they would pull out on top.

That wasn't quite true. There was no other option. And against the Grimm, the only way to beat them is to win before you start the battle. Poor morale only costs more lives. It was a twisted kind of logic. The happier you were, the less likely you were to be overrun by Grimm.

So I had misdirected her. But she needed all the positive support she could get. She was falling apart, and I wouldn't see that happen.

I let out the breath I had been holding. I didn't need to project my feelings out when Lucario was capable of reading them like a book. On so many levels they shadowed over us.

To see firsthand how outclassed we were by Pokémon…. Gyarados had been the first hint, Heracross had proved the pattern, Camerupt had shot my expectations out of the water, and now Lucario was upping the bar even further.

I tried to imagine how much aura Lucario had spent on such a technique, and it exceeded my own considerable reserves at least twofold.

Lucario finally put an end to my thoughts. _"Unless we wish to dally, I see no reason to stay any longer. We lose time."_

I stepped through the portal. It was still as disorienting as before, but I had a better handle on the sensation. Or I thought I did.

The distorted colors shifted, contorting around me as I felt myself be stretched and compressed at the same time. It became harder to breathe, and for a brief moment, I thought I saw a distinct green color, but it faded as it registered in my mind.

And then I was falling, falling without stopping, falling—I stopped, frozen in the middle of wherever, unable to breathe, unable to think, unable to scream, when the green color reappeared. I tried to reach for the green shape, but I blacked out.

* * *

 **Yang vs. Yanmega**

* * *

I paced back and forth, still angry that I was being kept off the front lines. Intellectually, I knew that I wouldn't have much impact on the fight, but I still felt like I should be out there. It didn't help matters that I could hear Flint's every order as he controlled the battlefield.

With the assistance of Beck's Exploud, he was able to communicate all of his orders to each Pokémon. It was hard to hear Flint's voice over the booming sound of Exploud, but I could still follow the battle.

While they had numerous plans set in place to battle the Goliaths, with the sudden movement of the giant Grimm, they had to improvise many of those tactics on the field.

It had only been twenty seconds since they engaged, and already so much had happened. The assault led off when the two Roserade, owned by Barry and Cynthia, spread their vines around the Goliath at the back of the pack. While they held it down, a few of the more powerful Fire-types bathed its back legs in flames.

Banette and Spiritomb, the two Ghost-types in the group, engaged next. Using their more esoteric techniques, they weakened the Goliath as much as they could in five seconds. Aaron had started narrating the battle at this point, trying to give us as complete a picture as he could.

At this point, the other Goliaths had started to respond. Aaron was talking so fast I couldn't understand him any longer, other than picking out a few words here and there. Eventually, he stopped describing and used as few words as possible, still relaying the info as quickly as he could.

The Water-type Pokémon had been hit hard by acid, while the Steel-types were being bombarded with a shell-like explosive that primed on contact. Aaron grew excited when one of his Pokémon, a Yanmega, finished an attacking run from above. I wasn't sure what kind of attack run Yanmega had done, but it had drastically improved the combat abilities of a few choice Pokémon.

Cynthia's Garchomp was one of those Pokémon, and it took to its dedicated role as the most powerful Pokémon at the battle seriously. Together with Aaron's Heracross, they took out the back leg of another Goliath.

That was when things started to go wrong.

I hadn't really given much thought to the amount of planning they were doing, but the fact that most of these Pokémon had never battled with each other soon became apparent. The emphasis on practice sessions in the afternoons made much more sense now, as the teamwork began to fall apart.

I could hear the urgency of Flint's voice as he tried to direct the Pokémon to attack where they wouldn't interfere with others, but he made a few mistakes, as well. He didn't know all of the Pokémon well, and he couldn't keep track of all forty-some at the same time.

The Goliaths focused their efforts on one area with their acid, trying to take down Garchomp, Heracross, and Infernape, the three biggest threats. Several of the flying Pokémon, like Togekiss, Volcarona, and Dragonite, tried to intervene, raining down attacks, but their unfocused fire did little to stop them—the Goliaths were too durable.

More Pokémon were being taken out with the acid attacks. Aaron didn't have a good view with the acid misting up the battlefield, but he did his best to keep on describing the events. Volcarona switched tactics at Flint's insistence, blowing away the cloud of acid that hung over a group of about five Pokémon.

This caused one of the Goliaths to start targeting the skies, and the flying Pokémon soon had their time occupied by narrow dodging of the acid grenades.

Things finally started looking up when another one of Aaron's Pokémon, Shuckle, finished prepping her most powerful technique, and knocked the feet of another Goliath out from under it. Garchomp took this opportunity to finish off the newly downed Goliath, slicing through its head.

The two Milotic, now recovered enough, launched another assault. Barry's Empoleon used a drilling technique to further damage the leg of the first Goliath, distracting it enough for Heracross to bounce off of Palmer's Grumpig and impale it in the throat. As it died, the Goliath poured out as much acid as it could muster, and the other three did so as well.

When the smoke cleared, the three remaining Goliaths had left, running back towards the portal. Flint ordered the flying Pokémon not to give chase, and the trainers rushed out, returning all of their Pokémon. Alakazam was waiting, ready to teleport everyone back to the Pokémon Center for treatment.

They all appeared in the room. There was a shuffle of Poké Balls as the more critically injured Pokémon were given to Barry to rush to the nurses. _"—should set up an ambush for them at the portal,"_ argued Aaron. _"We have enough Pokémon still combat ready. If we hit them while they're still reeling…."_

 _"Patch me through to Cynthia,"_ Flint requested. _"I want her opinion before we make a move."_

Rowan nodded and dialed her number. The signal came up blank. He frowned. _"I can't reach her."_

Why wouldn't we be able to connect? Wait…if they were near the portal, Cynthia may have convinced Blake to go through the portal….

 _"They might be on the other side of the portal,"_ I said.

Flint's eyes widened. _"We attack,"_ he said immediately. _"If she doesn't know that there are three especially hostile Goliaths coming her way…."_

I shuddered. Blake was out there too.

Aaron turned to Weiss. _"May we borrow your Chimecho? We don't have a good medic on hand, and it would be helpful to have a Pokémon on site to deal with those injuries."_

Weiss hesitated. _"She would be kept from the battle at all times,"_ he assured her.

Reluctantly, she placed Chimecho's Poké Ball in his hand. _"Take good care of her,"_ she said.

 _"I will,"_ he promised.

 _"We need to go now if we're going to have any time to set up an ambush,"_ Flint cut in. _"Alakazam, if you would?"_

Flint and Aaron vanished, leaving Palmer, Beck, and Jamie in the room with us.

 _"What happened out there?"_ asked Ruby.

 _"It was chaos,"_ said Jamie. _"I could hardly see what was happening. Aaron didn't really have time to explain all that was happening, but he got the gist of it across."_

 _"He talked too fast for us to really understand,"_ I said.

Between the three of them, they helped us gain a little more understanding of the events. I didn't really care about the details of Banette and Spiritomb's ghosting, but I was curious about Yanmega.

Yanmega had an ability called _Speed Boost_ , which allowed him to naturally gain speed the longer he stayed in combat. He had combined that with two technique, _Ominous Wind_ and _Silver Wind_ , which had secondary effects that could boost his other stats. These stat boosts could be copied with _Psych Up_ , and even transferred to another Pokémon with _Baton_ _Pass_. Volbeat had used both of those techniques to massively increase Garchomp's attacking abilities.

But afterwards, things started to get messy when one of Flint's Houndoom's attacks went awry and struck Palmer's Rhyperior in the back. Several other missteps occurred, and their unity started to crumble under the Goliath's acid assault, until the bigger flying Pokémon stepped in to clear the acid cloud that had built up.

Then Aaron's Shuckle did her work. With the combination of _Defense Curl_ , _Power Trick_ , and _Rollout_ , she had knocked one of the Goliath's off its feet. This had allowed Garchomp to get in the killing blow, and according to Beck, changed the tide of the battle. _"We weren't doing enough damage, and the two that were injured weren't quite out of the fight yet. Shuckle turned a loss into a victory, with Garchomp's help."_

These explanations answered most of my questions. Weiss was still curious about some of the techniques they had employed, as she had wanted to see them practice, but hadn't for obvious reasons. Palmer was busy explaining how Milotic's Aqua Ring worked when Flint and Aaron teleported back in with Alakazam.

Aaron, holding the collection of Poké Balls, hurried out to get care. Flint just sat down and put his head in his hands.

 _"How did it go?"_ asked Palmer.

 _"We got them,"_ grumbled Flint. _"We got them, but…."_

 _"But what?"_ I asked, already fearing the answer.

 _"Before the last Goliath went down, it destroyed the portal."_


	12. Volume 10: Investigation

**Volume 10: Investigation**

* * *

 **Ruby vs. Arcanine**

 _"_ _What do you mean, the portal was destroyed?"_ I demanded, standing precariously on my one leg.  
 _  
"The Goliath positioned itself so that when it fell over, it landed directly on top of the portal, crushing it. We cut up and moved the body, but the portal had disappeared."_

 _"You didn't see any sign of Cynthia or Blake?"_ asked Rowan.

Flint shook his head. I slumped into my seat. Together we had made the call to stay here, while Blake went with Cynthia. We could be home right now. I could only hope that they were okay.  
 _  
"What do we do now?"_ asked Jamie.  
 _  
"We prepare,"_ said Flint. _"_ _Cynthia predicted more portals. I would rather be ready for any signs of Grimm activity than to be caught unawares again."_

He turned to Weiss. _"_ _That also includes studying up on aura. Weiss, are you able to unlock mine today?"_

"I can do it right now," she said. When she was about to place her hand on his shoulder, she paused, and turned to me.

"Ruby, you should learn how to do this."

I blinked. "Are you sure?"

"It's not difficult. I learned how from an instructor a few years ago." She smiled sadly.

I rolled my wheelchair over to Flint, putting my hand on his arm. "What's next?"

"I'll start the process, but you need to finish by saying the incantation. Don't worry about what you're going to say. It'll come to you."

Weiss turned her aura into overdrive, light blue light surrounding her. I activated my own, and channeled it through Flint. I focused on the pattern that Weiss's aura left, and let my own aura into the spaces she left.

Then, I felt the need to speak. "For it is in virtue that we achieve immortality."

Weiss withdrew from Flint, letting me take over. I enveloped him in aura, empowering him. "Through this, we become a paragon of justice and salvation to rise above all, infinite in value and unbound by mercy."

I felt a faint tug in my gut, and within the depths of Flint's soul, we resonated. A flood of aura overpowered mine, rising to the surface. "I release your soul, and by my shoulder protect thee."

I opened my eyes to see a faint orange outline appearing around Flint. He stared at his arms, still glowing orange. _"_ _This is...incredible,"_ he breathed.

I smiled. I felt exhausted, much like I had after the Breach. But the grin spreading across Flint's face made the effort worth it. I remembered back when I had first accessed my aura.

Uncle Qrow had just given a lecture on aura a few days earlier, explaining the two schools of thought surrounding it. The first was the Daoist School, which emphasized meditation and the discovery of aura on one's own. The second was the Leonidan School, which involved a mentor you trusted to unlock your aura for you.

Signal advocated the Daoist School, and I had spent many an afternoon meditating on who I was. I finally had a breakthrough while I was on my yearly visit to Mom's grave. I had lingered at the gravestone for a minute longer than my family, and a Beowolf caught me unawares. Even though I hadn't built Crescent Rose yet, I had a dagger on me for my protection, and I had some idea how to use it.

When the Beowolf managed to disarm me, I thought I was done for, but I kept fighting. I chased after the knife, because I was horrendous with my fists, and the Beowolf knocked me to the ground. But my newly awakened aura protected me from the blow, so I grabbed the knife and killed the Beowolf.

Uncle Qrow came running up a second later, congratulating me on awakening my aura. He had been watching, waiting to see how I would react to the Grimm, and agreed to tutor me in how to use my aura.

That had also turned into weapons training when I had tried to use his Recurve Night behind his back to see if I was any good with a scythe. He wasn't particularly happy that I had sneaked in and played with it, though he may have been angry from the collateral damage from the explosion I caused when I accidently pulled the trigger.

"I know," I squealed. Unlocking Flint's aura had been one of the coolest things I had done—ever.

 _"_ _As cool as this is,"_ said Flint, _"_ _we need to focus on what we do next. If we take Cynthia's hypothesis on the locations of the next portals, and your observations about the timing of the portals, we have about three weeks to prepare for the next portal."_

 _"But with Cynthia gone…."_ said Aaron.

 _"_ _We need to contact Lucian and Bertha,"_ said Flint. _"_ _I think we need to research some of the Kalosian myths about Hoopa, and those two are far better at it than I."_

 _"So we're going to Kalos, then?"_

 _"What's all this about Kalos?"_ asked Yang. _"_ _What about Blake and Cynthia?"_

 _"What can we do about them?"_ returned Flint. _"_ _If Hoopa is behind the portals, then we need to find about the portals before we can do anything about Blake and Cynthia."_

Yang frowned.  
 _  
"I want to go to the portal,"_ I said. _"_ _If there's any chance they're on this side of the portal I want to be there."_

Flint nodded. _"_ _I'll lend you Arcanine. Here."_

He gave me a rather worn Poké Ball. I fingered the red and white sphere, tracing the rough scuffs and scratches. I glanced at the other two Poké Balls on his belt. While one was similarly old, the other looked newer.

I started to ask when he had captured each of his Pokémon, but I hesitated when I saw his forlorn expression. _"_ _Are you okay?"_

 _"I'm fine. Just worried about Cynthia, is all."_

 _"We'll find them,"_ I assured him. _"_ _We'll find them."_

* * *

 **Weiss vs. Snorunt II**

* * *

Ruby sent out Flint's Arcanine and squealed when she saw him. Arcanine looked like a large dog with orange and black fur. Large tufts of tan fur covered his front and around his ankles.  
 _  
"Arcanine, this is Ruby,"_ said Flint. _"She needs a ride for a bit."_

Arcanine barked and sidled up to her. Ruby started stroking his back and itching behind his ears.

I helped her out of her wheelchair, settling her on his back. Ruby smiled at me, continuing to rub Arcanine's coat. "He's so warm," she breathed.  
 _  
"Who all is going to the portal?"_ asked Rowan. _"I wouldn't mind taking a look at the site myself."_

"I'm going," said Yang. "Weiss?"

I considered. "I...think I'll stay. I trust you to find anything relevant, and there are some things I didn't get to this morning that I still want to do this afternoon."

With the craziness of the past two days, I had yet to spend much time with my new icy companions. Rush was a handful at times, though Kain tried to curb her more inquisitive tendencies. While I would have liked to take a look at the portal area again, there wasn't really a need for me to be there, with the risk of Grimm gone, and the very capable Rowan accompanying my teammates.

"If you're sure," said Yang slowly.

The four—five with Alakazam—departed then. I left for the training center immediately afterward, reminding Flint to talk to me later about his aura. I wanted to let it settle for a little while before trying to train it. I remembered the arduous process of training it myself, long hours spent meditating or exercising to refine it.

I found my own corner in the training field, and sent out all three of my Pokémon. Chimecho tinkled sweetly, rubbing her cheek against mine. I caressed her body in return. "It's good to see you too, Chimecho."

I turned my attention to Rush and Kain. I was reminded of when I first gave them their names, back on break after the fight against the Beowolf pack.

I had sent them out in the break room, ready to interact with them for the first time. Rush was looking around at the room curiously, while Kain seemed to be more reserved and wary. I knelt down and patted them on the head. Rush leapt into my arms, and I fell over. I laughed.  
 _  
"Can you understand me?"_ I asked. Rush grinned, and Kain nodded once. _"Do you have names?"_

Rush tilted her head, then nodded furiously. _"Oh. I forgot to introduce myself. My name is Weiss Schnee. It's a pleasure to meet you."_

Rush cackled back. I hadn't heard Snorunt vocalize before, but cackling was the closest equivalent I could think of. _"What is your name?"_

Rush gave another cheerful cackle, and Kain grunted out a similar sound. I realized that their names would likely be hard to imitate _. "Those names are hard for me to say,"_ I said. _"Is it okay if I give you names I can say?"_

Rush nodded immediately, and Kain agreed after a moment of thought. _"You will be_ Rush _,"_ I said to Rush, _"and you are_ Kain _."_

Rush had nuzzled against my dress, and Kain just shrugged. How he managed to shrug without shoulders was beyond me, but he did it.

After that, I had practiced a few ice techniques with them, gaging their combat abilities and style inclinations. Neither had a definite style, which gave me a lot to work with, but I was confident I could help them improve. _"Are you ready to practice more today?"_ I asked. Rush hopped up and down, and blew a blast of cold air at an invisible opponent.  
 _  
"I have some ideas of what we can work on today,"_ I said. _"The main thing I've been thinking about is your own fighting style, and I think I have a basis to build off of."_

I was starting to get used to what kind of abilities and techniques Pokémon could have, and it was time to start experimenting. _"Rush, I'd like to start with you."_

I worked her through the beginnings of a combat style, starting with how she wanted to fight. I had noticed that she liked to be more up close than Kain, and was overall more aggressive in that manner. The two main techniques she had used included a head bash move, where she formed a protective barrier around her head and rammed herself into the opponent. The second was a gust of frigid air and ice particles.

Overall, the two techniques complimented each other fairly well. The first restricted the opponent's movement, and then the head bash finished them off. But I wanted to test how versatile the cold air blast was. I knew that larger scale ice techniques existed, but they were likely beyond both Rush and Kain at the moment.

So I would work with what I had. I briefly explained to Rush what I wanted her to do, and she grinned.

Taking a deep breath, she blew out the powdery blast of cold air over as wide an area as she could. I was the target, as there was little else I could use to accurately measure the effectiveness of her attacks. I noted what the temperature felt like, and gave Rush the go ahead for the next test.

She focused the cold air blast - I really needed a name for it - into as small of an area as she could, and I could feel a noticeable difference in the intensity of the technique.

The next few tests measured how far she could accurately hit a target, as I wanted to get an idea of the range limits of the icy wind. Actually, that wasn't a bad name. As was fairly obvious, the narrower the focus, the farther the technique reached, but Rush's limit was about 20 feet before the cold tapered off significantly.

After that, I had both Rush and Kain do some runs, to get a feel for how they moved on their feet. This was one of the most important parts of a fighting style, and I wouldn't accept anything less than perfection in their footwork. I resolved to ask if there were many videos of Pokémon battles, if only to see what other trainers had accomplished with their Snorunt.

Not that I was eager to steal their ideas, but I felt it was important to know how Snorunt were typically raised. There was absolutely going to be differences between even similar Snorunt, but that's because each Pokémon had their own identity. And I already had ideas for Rush that Kain wouldn't be able to use effectively, and vice versa.

I let Rush have a rest, and moved onto testing Kain. While Rush was much more impulsive, Kain preferred to stay on the defensive, but he had a stubborn streak a mile wide. In addition, he had an additional ice technique that Rush didn't. He could form numerous small, sharp icicles that he launched at the target. First I tested how large he could make the icicle shards, while keeping the integrity of the attack, but it didn't take much for the shards to become unwieldy.

So I pushed him in another direction. Instead of forming many small ice shards, I had him focus on a single, larger projectile. He was able to concentrate more fully, and created a sizeable chunk of ice that he could hurl at a target, similar to a javelin.

With a strong finishing move, Kain was better equipped for any encounter, so I switched to Rush again. I was unsure how difficult it was to teach techniques like Kain's Ice Shards or Ice Javelin, but Ice Shards seemed like a solid base for more advanced ice techniques, so I endeavored to teach Rush the move.

Progress was slow, but after about half an hour, she was able to form two little shards of her own, which I was happy with. I was already impressed with their overall progress just within my own session.

But I couldn't neglect my own training. Since I was now out of Dust, bar a single Time crystal that I hadn't deemed efficient for the Dust Bomb I'd used against the Goliath, I would need to rely a lot more heavily on both my Semblance, but also any elemental techniques I could master. I already had high hopes from the advanced skillsets that Cynthia and the others utilized with their own Pokémon.

Working with Rush and Kain was an additional blessing, as I now had a better idea of what to expect from an ice technique, as I seemed to have an affinity for that element. Ice Dust had always worked better than any of the other varieties, and I suspected that each person had their own elemental alignment.

I had used as much of my aura sight as I could while Kain had been forming his Ice Javelin, and I wanted to replicate his feat, even if it was on a smaller scale. Taking a deep breath, I concentrated on my mental image of ice, and let that image overlay itself over my aura. Expelling it from my hand, I watched as a few small ice crystals started forming. Each was no larger than a grain of sand, but it was definite progress.

I smiled, and tried again.

* * *

 **Blake vs. Celebi**

* * *

I blinked as sunlight filtered into my eyes. Bolting upright, I glanced around my surroundings, flashing images reminding me of what had just happened. I was sitting on a bed in a room I didn't know, but it smelled familiar. The walls were painted faint lavender, covered in sketches of Pokémon I didn't recognize. One picture was fully colored, and featured my team, standing alongside our Pokémon.

I slipped out from under the covers, and examined the picture. Among the Pokémon I recognized, Slippers was standing next to Ruby, now fully grown and of a comparable size to her father. Chimecho was resting above Weiss's shoulder, as always. Hosaki was even more formidable than he was before, standing slightly taller with a fuller, brighter crown of flames. A small black fox rested on my shoulder, grinning mischievously.

My ears perked up when I heard footsteps coming down the hallway. I turned in time to see the door open. I stepped back in shock. The woman who had opened the door…was me.

"What? How?" It couldn't be. Was I asleep? Gone crazy? Was this a long lost twin, separated at birth?

"Glad to see you up, Blake," she said. "I'm sure you have lots of questions, so please, follow me."

"Who are you?" I demanded.

She smirked. "I thought it was obvious, but in case you don't remember what you look like, I'm you."

"That's impossible," I denied. "There's no possible way for you to be me."

"Are you so readily denying the improbable, when you have already experienced a possible explanation for my existence?" she asked.

My logic finally caught up, and I unclenched the fist I had been making. If she was referring to the fact that we had traveled through dimensions, then it was possible, after the incident in the portal, we had traveled to a more parallel dimension to our own. I glanced back at the picture behind me.

"Then what about the picture?" I asked. "How do you explain that, if I'm in a different dimension?"

"Who said space was the only vector you traversed?" She smirked again.

What? What other 'vector' could have I traversed? I glanced back at the picture one more time. It was clear that it had been drawn some time into the future, as Ruby's figure had filled out more, and Yang had a visible scar on her left arm. I turned back to my other self. "I'm in the _future_?"

"Cynthia's waiting in the other room. We can talk there." She slipped into the hallway without a sound. I followed hesitantly, treading on the soft carpet after her. The hallway was plain and undecorated, except for a single poster that I didn't have enough time to read, as it was written in Sinnohese.

The hallway opened out into a large living area, with a sofa and three recliners arranged around a TV, a piano against the wall, and a table with four chairs around it. A simple chandelier hung above the table, and several bookcases lined the opposite wall. A moment's glance revealed books in both Sinnohese and Valic. A large painting decorated the final wall, depicting a serene day at the ocean.

Cynthia was lounging in one of the recliners, and perked up when we entered the room. Future Blake, as I now decided to call her, sat down across from Cynthia, and gestured for me to take a seat. I made myself comfortable on the sofa, and gazed expectantly at Future Blake.

"I know you have lots of questions, little me, so I'll start with the basics. You are at my house, at some unspecified point in the future. I know how you got here, and why, and how to get back to the past. There are a lot of other things I know, but for the most part, no spoilers."

An unspecified point in the future? She was keeping me in the dark, deliberately. No spoilers indeed. "So how did we end up here?" I asked.

"If you recall, while you and Cynthia were off investigating the portal, the others were fighting the Goliaths. During the first engagement, they killed two, and the other three ran. Straight back to the portal. Flint decided that a second assault while they were still exhausted was best, and attacked again. As the final Goliath toppled, it destroyed the portal."

"It _what_?" I exclaimed.

"Destroyed the portal," she repeated. "You just had the misfortune to be traveling through the portal at the time."

"So what happened to us?"

"As the pathway between dimensions faltered, you were rescued by one of the two Pokémon trying to fix the mess."

"What do you mean by that?"

"Remember what Weiss told you about Team Galactic, and Dialga, Palkia, and Giratina? Their battle caused a great destabilization between our two dimensions, and if left alone, could have had enormous consequences. But there are two Pokémon that have abilities similar to that of Dialga and Palkia, and took it upon themselves to fix the destabilization: Celebi, and Hoopa."

I noted the names. Hoopa instantly made me think of the portals, which could be called hoops, based on their shape. Celebi didn't ring any bells, but from her description, Celebi probably had some form of control over time. The puzzle pieces began to fall into place.

"Let me guess," I began, "Hoopa has been trying to fix special warps, and Celebi has been working with the time dilation. When Hoopa's portal was destroyed, Celebi came to the rescue, and sent us to the only place away from the space between dimensions – the future. Is Celebi green?"

Future Blake nodded. "Yes, she is. You hit all the big points, actually."

"What about the Grimm? I asked.

Future Blake sighed. "The Grimm coming through the portals is just a side effect. Just like us, actually. Hoopa knew nothing about our world before opening the first portal. He just knew that the destabilization needed to be fixed." She paused. "On a completely different note, are you hungry or thirsty? I can fix you something quick."

I swallowed, noticing how dry my throat was. "Just some water is fine, thanks," I said.

Future Blake formed a purple circle in midair, and reached through it, her arm disappearing. She pulled back her hand, holding a water bottle, which she tossed to me. I caught it, still staring at the portal she had created.

"How did you do that?" I asked.

"It's an application of Phantom Force," she explained.

"The disappearing technique that Banette can use?" I asked.

"Yes. That's actually something I would like to discuss with you. There is no urgent need to return back to your time, and all of you could benefit from my tutelage."

"Because no matter how long we spend here, we'll go back to the point we started from, right?"

She smiled. "Exactly. I've already talked briefly with Cynthia about this, and she's agreed to stay for one week. I will be training her in the use of her aura."

"And what would you have me work on?" I asked.

"Now would be a good a time as any to explain some elemental theory," she mused. "As you know, elements have long thought to be aural reproductions of Dust. But this is not actually the case. There are hard limits on what elemental aura can accomplish, and they are not congruent with the feats capable with Dust. The easiest example of this is Time Dust."

I could see where she was going with this. Weiss's Time Dust glyph heightened your sense of time, and boosted your body to match those perceptions. She was implying that there existed no direct elemental aura technique to perform the same action. "Then what about Dialga and Celebi?" I asked. "Are their time techniques not elemental?"

"Just extremely powerful Semblances," she confirmed. "But Semblances and elements are related. In addition to a Semblance, each person has an elemental affinity or attunement. This is often reflected in the individual's Semblance, but not always."

"So Yang would have a Fire element, and Weiss would have an Ice element?"

"Precisely," said Future Blake. "Ruby has an Air element, and we have a Ghost element. In fact, there are sixteen possible elemental types, and they all correspond to a Pokémon type."

That left out two types. "Which types don't have an element?" Basic came to mind, and I suspected either Dragon, Fairy, or perhaps Bug didn't either.

"Basic and Fairy," she answered. "The commonly stated reasoning is that Basic is too undefined, and Fairy too esoteric, but the exact reasons are unknown."

"What do you mean, commonly stated? Elements aren't well researched or documented," I said, taking a sip from my water bottle.

"Not on Remnant," she agreed. "But here it is a different story. Pokémon also have elements, and they usually do not align with their inherent types. There is a common technique easily taught to allow access to that element, called Hidden Power."

She formed a brilliant white ball, but I noticed purple flecks scattered within. "If you look closely," she continued, "you can see the faint purple specks. Currently, I am using as little typed aura as I can. But if I turn up the amount…"

The purple flecks brightened into streaks, and soon the entire sphere was a violent violet.

"You have a more potent amount of typed aura."

"Typed aura being the same as elemental aura."

"Yes."

Briefly, I thought back to what she had said about being 'here'. That strongly implied that we were currently in or near Sinnoh. It made me wonder if we ever returned to Beacon. Will return? Will have returned?

Discarding thoughts of confused tenses, I asked, "By here, do you mean Sinnoh? And if so, then do we ever make it back to Beacon?"

She smirked. "No spoilers. But yes, this is Sinnoh. Whether or not we make it back to Vale, only to return here later, or stay here for eternity is spoiler territory. Even more so than the ending to Ninjas of Love III: Revenge of the Scift. Why, Arrold is–"

"Stop!" I protested. "No spoilers." But Ninjas of Love III hadn't been printed yet. Its premiere date was still a month away, and the subtitle hadn't been announced either. It would be simple to confirm whether or not she was right when we returned to– "I see how it is," I glowered.

Future Blake smiled again, and coughed. "Potential book titles aside, I want to first teach you Hidden Power. It will give you more insight into Ghost type techniques, and then we can work on the fun stuff."

Cynthia, who had been content to sit quietly while Future Blake lectured, spoke up. "Will I learn too?"

"As soon as you can properly manipulate your aura, yes. That will be the third step. If we get that far."

"Don't you already know how far we'll get?" I asked.

"That would be a spoiler, now, wouldn't it?" she returned. "By the way, if you're wondering about memorizing everything I say for the sake of a stable time loop: don't. It'll be easier if you instead remember the topic and the general focus of the conversation. That way, you'll say all the right things instead of the wrong ones, and we won't get into dual loop syndrome. I have it on good authority that Celebi dislikes that."

"…right. Can we get started now?"

* * *

 **Yang vs. Arcanine II**

* * *

We arrived at the portal site with the customary flash that I had grown used to associating with teleportation. Three giant corpses lay about the area, the Goliaths still menacing, even in death. One Goliath had been completely decapitated, while another had significant damage to the shoulders and flank. But even lying on their sides, the Grimm were still massive.

I whistled appreciatively as we walked around the Goliaths, admiring the efforts of the elite Pokémon. Rowan was similarly awed, as he hadn't been up close to the Goliaths before. It was hard to fully comprehend things of that size.

 _"This…is beyond anything I expected,"_ he commented. _"Intellectually, I knew their relative size, but to witness it myself – it's mind boggling."_

He turned to Alakazam. _"Can you feel where the portal was?"_

Alakazam nodded, and directed Rowan's attention to the third Goliath's body. Flint had said that the Goliath had fallen on top of the portal when it died, meaning to examine it we would have to move the Goliath. A daunting task, with the amount of mass it had.

But Rowan had a better solution. He commanded Alakazam to unleash a barrage of psychic blades to tear into the Goliath's flesh. The durability of the Grimm, while still strong, had lessened since its death, and would continue until it completely dissolved.

Rowan sent out another Pokémon to assist with the dissection. It was obviously a Bug-type, resembling a cross between a cricket, a preying mantis, and a violin. It also had a very impressive mustache. Kricketune started laying into the Goliath, seeming to make little headway.

That soon changed, however, when its strikes became noticeably stronger, and grew with each slash. _"What technique is it using?"_ I asked.

 _"Fury Cutter,"_ he answered. _"It grows in power with each strike, but only while the user concentrates on the move. If a different move is used, or his concentration is broken, he must ramp up again."_

I activated my aura sight for a moment, to see what Fury Cutter was doing mechanically. Kricketune's aura was jumping in intensity, each boost doubling in power. Soon, his arm sword slash thingies began glowing with power, and in about a minute, Kricketune had laid waste to the entire corpse. Alakazam had shifted duties, moving chunks of Grimm innards out from around Kricketune, and likely assisting in directing the bug where to strike.

 _"Enough,"_ called Rowan. _"Thank you for your assistance, Kricketune."_

The bug chirped happily, and returned to his Poké Ball in a flash of light. Rowan opened up his briefcase, and began pulling out instruments as Alakazam continued to move Grimm parts. I glanced around for Ruby, realizing that I hadn't seen her since we arrived.

 _"Did you see where Ruby went?"_ I asked.

Rowan frowned, his mustache bristling, and shook his head. I walked around the Goliath, looking both ways for any sign of Ruby. "Ruby?" I called out. "Where are you?"

When no reply came, I shouted a little louder. "Ruby! Get back here!"

A streak of red and orange blurred past me, slamming me into a Goliath leg with its concussive blast before leaving my dazed sight. A loud scream of joy had accompanied the streak, so I knew it had to be Ruby.

The streak came back just as I got to my feet, slower, but still fast enough it knocked me to the ground again. This time, I could make out Ruby's compressed cry of "Stop!"

"Ruby!" I cried. I ran after the streak, knowing trying to catch up would be futile, but I still had to help. The streak had gone into the trees, but I didn't venture in, instead staying at the edge and continued to call out.

Ruby and Arcanine appeared a minute later, windblown and laughing. Arcanine was panting heavily, but still kept up a jolly gait as he approached.

"Ruby," I asked, "What was that about?"

"I wanted to see how fast Arcanine could run," she explained. "Then I thought it would be cool to see what would happen if I used my Semblance, so I did, and then we went zoom! And it was so fast I couldn't see, but it was awesome, and then I heard you call, and–"

"You knocked me off my feet twice," I interrupted, squeezing her, "and scared me half to death."

"Ack! Yang! Air!" I let go of her. "…sorry."

"It's okay," I said. "I just get worried sometimes."

"But it was really cool," she said. "You wanna hop on?"

"Actually, Rowan is looking at where the portal was just now. If there are any clues about Blake, now is the time to look."

"Oh." She urged Arcanine onward. "To the crime scene!"

I jogged behind Arcanine as he loped towards Rowan. Brushing aside a few stray strands of hair that had been caught in the wind, I spotted Rowan frowning, absently stroking his beard. He sat back on his haunches and ran a hand through his hair.

 _"Having problems?"_ I asked.

 _"These readings don't make sense,"_ he muttered. Looking at me, he said, _"I am analyzing the energy readouts, and they don't match was should be the case after the portal."_

 _"What about it isn't making sense?"_ I asked.

 _"It all has to do with the energy needed to break through dimensions,"_ explained Rowan. _"Experiments have been conducted to accomplish this, but the energy required is immense. More than is currently feasible to continued experimentation. But one scientist—by the name of Charon, I believe—continued research, and theorized a way to slip through dimensions. By taking a look at the energy state of the anchor point, you could slip out of our dimension and into another._

 _"Of course, with no easy way to analyze the energy state of the anchor point, his theories were laughed off, and was cut off from funding. But I found some sense in them, even if I had little interest in pursuing that topic. At least, until a month ago, when Team Galactic arose. I revisited Charon's research, and discovered that they likely had a plan to break through the dimensional barrier, and create their own. I hurriedly built some machines to detect dimensional energy, working with a man by the name of Tonio. Sure enough, we picked up much background radiation, and when they summoned Dialga and Palkia, most of our more sensitive instruments broke under the immense strain._

 _"Now, where was I going with this?"_ he asked.

 _"Readouts not making sense,"_ I supplied.

 _"Ah, yes, thank you. But there was one instrument that survived the incident, and Tonio and I managed to record a lot of data on the subject. Tonio left to return to his research, but I called him up the other day to help with this, and he gave me some valuable data to assist me here. Tonio was unable to break away from his lab due to other obligations in Alamo Town, but I am still working closely with him on this._

 _"At any rate, I have readouts of normal energy levels, and Tonio's data on energy levels since the incident, and they do not match up with projected patterns."_ He sighed, and stood. _"I'm not quite sure_ what _to make of this."_

 _"Have you taken into account what the portal might have caused?"_ I asked.

 _"Actually, the energy necessary for that is accounted for in the readings,"_ said Rowan. _"But there's another factor here that is altering the readings I am receiving."_

 _"What kind of energy is it?"_ asked Ruby. _"That might give us some blues. I mean clues."_

 _"It's a spontaneous disturbance in the space-time that created a ripple effect that is affecting my data,"_ explained Rowan. _"Something interfered during the whiplash from the portal being destroyed."_

 _"Well, then we just need to figure out what that interference is,"_ said Ruby. _"Are there any Pokémon that could have done this?"_

 _"Not any regular Pokémon that I know of,"_ answered Rowan. _"I suspect Dialga or Palkia could account for it, but it seems unlikely to me. They do not involve themselves in human affairs."_

 _"Are there any other Pokémon you can think of? Like, maybe, I dunno, a teleporter, or something."_

 _"Wait,"_ I said. _"Didn't you say something about it affecting space-time? What if the Pokémon affected time?"_

 _"If that is the case,"_ said Rowan, _"then we have an even more unlikely chance of seeing our friends again. I'm sorry girls, but I just don't think there is anything we can do right now but wait. I will send this data off to Tonio, but with how busy he is, don't expect any soon."_

Ruby hung her head. _"There has to be something we can do,"_ I said. _"Could we have missed anything, or–"_

A loud beeping noise came from the instrument Rowan was holding in his hands. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a glint of gold, and turned to get a closer look.

Shards of the portal were rising from the ground, churning and swirling in midair until they came to a rest in a perfect circlet. With a flash of blue light, the portal reformed.


	13. Interlude 3: Lucario

**Interlude 3: Lucario**

I sat on the beach, meditating. Next to me sat the alternate person of Miss Blake. When Cynthia had released me to explain our current circumstances, I had been quite surprised. To warrant a visit from Lady Celebi, when she had so many other tasks? But now we were taking the time for one week of intensive training under Lady Blake's tutelage.

Our current exercise was meditation, designed to attune ourselves to our aura. I had practiced similar routines before, but Lady Blake had certain expectations that accompanied the meditation that my previous experience did not require.

To further offset things, we each had different goals for our training, meaning that I had a different focus in my meditations than Cynthia or Miss Blake. Now that Realization was more than a myth, I sought my innermost self, to bring that reflection to the outer world. This meditation was for me to recognize my current self, so that Lady Blake could assist me in discovering my Realization.

However, Cynthia was starting from the beginning. Since her aura had been unlocked by Miss Weiss, she had been insistent on learning how to utilize it. I had been hesitant to go beyond meditation in my instruction, as I was blind to any nuances that unlocked aura carried. Already, I had noticed one present in Cynthia's aura.

Whereas before, her aura had been muted, it was now vibrant and free. But intertwined within, I could sense traces of Miss Weiss's aura still lingering, even several days later. I wondered if this side effect was a more permanent fixture. I would have to examine Miss Weiss's aura more in depth to see if she had a similar remnant.

Miss Blake was next to me, attuning to her Hidden Power element. With my aura reading capabilities, I was able to learn what type Hidden Power would manifest as. My own was Ice, an overall useful type, though I tended not to use it much; I generally preferred close combat. Her ghost type was well developed, though it was connected differently than I was accustomed to. If I examined the auras of the other girls, I would be unsurprised to find similar connections to their Hidden Powers.

Lady Blake sent out a pulse of aura, trying to distract us from our meditation. I had grown too lost in thought, but I did not break from my pose. Cynthia was completely distracted, but Miss Blake didn't outwardly react, though I could feel her aura flinch into readiness.

"Cynthia," said Lady Blake, "I would like to move on to our next activity. _Mini-me,_ Lucario, feel free to continue."

Miss Blake snorted. _"Mini-me?"_

 _"Yang-phemisms wear you down after a while,"_ quipped Lady Blake. Miss Blake rolled her eyes, and returned to her meditating.

In lieu of continued meditation, I began working through the kata I learned under Master Gurkinn. After I had evolved, Cynthia had gone in search of a tutor to acclimate me to my new body size. Master Gurkinn had accepted her request, and taught the two of us as one. He encouraged Trainers to master their bodies alongside their Pokémon, and Cynthia took that to heart. Occasionally, we would spar, so Cynthia could retain her skills, but without an active aura, she had been limited in her capacity.

Now that she had an active aura, I had resolved to challenge her in her abilities. I had no doubt thatunder Lady Blake's tutelage, she would flourish, even in the short time we had.

As my kata grew more difficult, I channeled as much of my aura as I could into my movements, letting it expressive itself all throughout my body. I had done this countless times, but today, it felt different. As I flowed over the sand, I reached deeper into my core, exposing the depths within.

And then I felt the change. A strange sensation overwhelmed me, as I felt like I had two bodies. I had perfect control over both, but there was a clear distinction between the two. I opened the eyes that I had closed.

A projection of myself stood alongside me, following me in my kata, an exact mirror of me. He was tinted gold, and semi-translucent. My aura reserves were depleting much quicker, and Iestimated it to be close to double my normal expenditure. I finished my kata, and examined my doppelganger more closely.

The first ability I tested was his limits of movement. He was able to copy my moves by default, but I needed to know what his range outside of that was. I started a simple kata, but held my duplicate still. I was able to finish with no difficulties. Beginning the second set, I had him begin the kata I had just completed.

This strained my concentration, but I kept moving through the different kata until I reached the sixth set. At this point, my control over my duplicate began to wane, so after I finished, I stopped, instead letting him finish his final set.

The next item to take into consideration was how he used his aura. I could feel my reserves channeling into him, but while he was resting, the drain lessened. I wondered what degree of control I had over aura expenditure, and held back. Hevisibly faded, but I didn't cut the link, as I wanted toexperiment as much as I could before I dispelled him. I tested his range of movement, and it was noticeably slower and lagged behind mycommands. As I increased the amount of aura he consumed, the quicker his responses and the overall quality of his being greatened.

I tried to sense how the aura I was channeling into him was being used, and found that I had the ability to increase one area at the expense of another. For instance, his torso became less distinct, but his arms had greater range of movement and response times.

My final experiment was to see whether or not I could generate attacks from my projection. A quick Aura Sphere proved that to be the case. But when I tried to generate an attack of my own simultaneously to one from him, the mental strain spiked.

I cut off his connection to my aura, and let him disappear. Immediately, I felt drained, and collapsed onto the sand. I slipped into a meditative stance, and realized that I had overexerted myself. With my aura consumption effectively doubled while he was summoned, I had to monitor myreserves more carefully.

Miss Blake had yet to move from her spot on the sand, but I could see her aura radiating off of her, covering her in a violet shroud. I formed a Shadow Ball, and launched it over her shoulder. She didn't even flinch.

Now feeling slightly rested, I honed in on Cynthia's location. She was in the forest a little ways off, and I decided to find her. A similar search for LadyBlake's aura revealed nothing. I could sense traces her aura had left behind, but she was nowhere in sight.

A sudden flash of aura startled me, and I nearly crashed into a tree, as Lady Blake made her appearance. Leaning up against one of the pines, she raised her eyebrows. "Going somewhere?"

 _"I simply wished to check on Cynthia,"_ I stated calmly. Lady Blake had made no threatening moves, and even her stance implied peaceful motives, but I could sense a deeper playfulness within her.

"She's managed to activate her aura in defense," she said, answering my unasked question. Took her a few tries, but I'm a good motivator."

At that, she grinned, and I rolled to the floor as my danger sense screamed out warnings. The tree behind me toppled as I lunged at her, forming a Force Palm and slamming it into her ribcage. I felt no resistance and kept moving forward, using my momentum to dodge the pending strike from above.

A quick Aura Sphere blasted apart anotherafterimage, and I leapt into the air, building up a Bullet Punch, and letting it fly as soon as I sensed her reappear. She deflected my move, and gougedmy side with a Shadow Claw so dense that I reeledto the side, narrowly avoiding the streaming DarkPulse she sent my way.

I let off a Dragon Pulse to try and gain some distance, but she held close, using anotherafterimage to launch herself into the air, in perfect position to barrage me with Shadow Balls. I Substituted out, wincing from the drain, and tried to catch her with a Psychic. When she faded from view, I boosted my speed with an Agility.

When she emerged from her Phantom Force, she lashed out, but I ducked, and with my temporary boost in speed, Force Palmed her into a tree. I dashed closer with Extreme Speed to try and finish her before she recovered, but all I hit was another afterimage.

The back of my neck tingled as Lady Blake held a Shadow Claw under my throat. _"I concede,"_ I said.

She smiled. "Good effort. I realize you were tired when we started the match, but if it makes you feel any better, I would have won anyway."

 _"I assumed that to be the case,"_ I replied. _"How wouldmy current self fare against you?"_

"No spoilers."

I regulated my breathing, bringing down my heart rate. My aura reserves were critically low, now, but I still wanted to check on Cynthia before I rested. She wasn't moving from her current location, so I zeroed in and slipped through the underbrush in her direction.

She was leaning up against a tree, resting. A score of little scratches and bruises littered her body, and her breathing was still heavy. _"How are you faring?"_ I inquired.

"About as well as expected, I believe," she replied. "I've been able to actively use my aura thrice now. How about you? You look tired."

 _"I briefly skirmished with her; she soundly thrashedme,"_ I admitted. _"She is brutally efficient in every move. I landed a single hit, and that was only with an Agility boost. I only lasted as long as I did because she was playing with me. I have not felt so utterlyoutclassed since we attempted to battle with MasterCarolina all those years ago."_

"Dialga and Palkia don't count?" she teased.

 _"They are forces of nature. Beings so primordial I could never hope to match. Kirlia was a much more grounded opponent."_

"Grandmother is the one person in this world I could never hope to match. But perhaps we needthe wake up call. After this mess with the _Grimm_ is over, are you amendable to round four?"

I smiled. _"I could be persuaded."_

Lady Blake appeared in a mass of purple. "Break time is over. We have an hour before lunch, and I intend to make the most of it."

I left Cynthia to her training, and checked up on Miss Blake. She was now practicing forming Hidden Power, letting it dissipate after each successful production; presumably Lady Blake hadgiven her some direction while Cynthia and I talked.

I watched for several minutes, until she couldeasily summon up a Hidden Power. _"Miss Blake,"_ I offered, _"would you care for a sparring partner?"_

She smiled softly. "I'd like that." I dropped onto the sand, settling into my fighting stance. She drew her weapon, and faced me. For one long moment, neither of us moved.

And then she leapt at me, sending an energy blade at me, and I spun to the left, jumping over the slash at stomach level. I landed in a crouch, bursting into action before her third swing, and jabbed at her right side.

Miss Blake leaned away from the strike, and flipped backwards, separating her blade into two. I launched a set of punches, not letting her gain the offensive. At the same time, I was testing her reactions and overall skill level. While Lady Blake was extraordinarily powerful, Miss Blake had yet to realize her full potential, it seemed. Whether this week of training was the catalyst remained to beseen, but I was fully confident in my ability to defeat her, even with my aura reserves borderingempty.

Exchanging blows for a few seconds, Miss Blake formed an afterimage to leap into the air, so I rolled forward, dodging the slice of purple aura. But I quickly learned that wasn't the extent of her move.

As I glanced back I had just enough time to dodge the blade thrown at my face. I realized my mistake as the black ribbon tightened, and the kama caught me in the back of the neck. Miss Blake used the taut ribbon to pull herself forward, sending another blade of aura across my chest.

Seeing no other option, I fell forward, blocking the aura slash with a partially formed Force Palm, and ducking my head as I spun away from the kama behind me. I flung a small Aura Sphere to buy a little time, and quickly judged my aura stores. I had enough for two more Aura Spheres, or a singleDragon Pulse, and I could use either depending on how I directed the next trade of blows.

Miss Blake bisected the Aura Sphere, returning her kama to sword form. She leapt up, and I jumped up to meet her, only for her to afterimage downward, sending a Hidden Power at me.

I took the chance, and blasted her with a Dragon Pulse. It tore through the Hidden Power, striking Miss Blake and sending her to the sand. I landed and with the dregs of my aura Extreme Speeded over to her, holding my paw to her throat.

"Good spar," she said.

I lowered my paw. _"Good spar."_

She kicked my legs out from under me, rolled to her feet, and held her sword to _my_ throat. "I never said it was over."

I chuckled. _"No, you did not."_

When I didn't surrender, she covered her blade in her aura, and formed a Hidden Power in the other.

I weighed my options. I had no useable aura left,and while I was sure I could take one of her blows, I couldn't take the other. As soon as I moved, shewould slash me and hit me with her Hidden Power. She had also placed a foot on my stomach, to prevent me from kicking her legs out from under her.

There was only one option.

 _"Is it lunchtime already?"_ I asked.

Miss Blake's head whipped up, and I moved. I batted aside her foot, throwing her off balance, and sat up. She fell over my legs, and I assisted that with my other arm. I formed a tiny Aura Sphere, barely able to hold together. Miss Blake had dropped her sword, but had managed to keep ahold of her Hidden Power.

With each attack ready to be used, we were at a stalemate.

"Not quite," said a voice from behind me "but you can stop tussling in the sand, now."

I turned to see Lady Blake standing behind us. "I can't leave you alone for five minutes, can I?"

Miss Blake started to murmur faint apologies, but I started to laugh. Lady Blake joined me, and sighed. "In all seriousness, you both need a break. Lucario, you're running on empty, and Blake, you're not much better."

 _"So it_ is _lunchtime,"_ I said.

"Are you hungry? Because you could have just told me," said Lady Blake.

 _"I am a bit peckish, yes."_

Lady Blake sighed again, and reached into one of her portals. She pulled out two packages and tossed one to me and the other to Miss another portal for herself, Lady Blake leftthe two of us on the beach.

As we ate, Miss Blake gave me a sidelong look. _"Is there something wrong?"_ I asked.

"It's…" she paused, taking a moment to swallow, "complicated."

 _"How so?"_

Hesitantly, she raised her hands to her bow and undid it, revealing the cat ears underneath. I had noticed her bow twitch twice earlier today, and this explained it.

"In my world, there are many people like me, who have animal features. We're called _faunus_. Butwe're discriminated against, forced to work in terrible conditions, live in unsafe homes, and regarded as the scum of the earth. of us are lucky to have enough food to eat."

 _"What's bothering you, if you've had to live with these conditions your whole life?"_

"It's the entire Pokémon training culture," she replied. "I know I'm an outsider here, so I didn't speak up about it. But the idea that you can just go out into the wild, capture a Pokémon, taking it away from its home, without negative repercussion, is horrifying. It's slavery. On the other hand, I can see the bonds between trainers and their Pokémon. Even then, in order to express that, I have to give ownership of the Pokémon to the trainer to discuss it. I want your perspective."

 _"The first thing you have to understand,"_ I began, _"is that life in the wild is hard. Make no mistake about that. Many Pokémon seek to be caught, because conditions under a trainer are usually far better than they receive on their own. In addition, there are many laws and safeguards against abuse. The Pokémon League takes abuse reports very seriously. If convicted, a trainer will spend time in jail, and will have to be cleared by a certified psychologist beforebeing allowed to own another Pokémon."_

"I suspected that was the case. But what about battles, then?"

 _"Are there not others like yourself, who train to fight like you do, only against human opponents? Have you ever participated in such an event yourself?"_

"…I hadn't thought about it like that," Miss Blake admitted. "While I haven't participated in any tournaments myself, a number of my friends have, and we were supposed to enter an upcoming tournament."

 _"The Pokémon Trainer's role is to coach and care for each Pokémon, to raise them to be the best they can be."_

She smiled. "Thanks for talking with me about this, Lucario."

 _"It was my pleasure, Miss Blake. You would honor me if you called me by my name, Gaheris."_

"Gaheris. I had been wondering about that,actually."

 _"Why you were introduced to us by our species name?"_

She nodded.

 _"The reason is that our names are very personal. Trainers hold great power in the choosing of our names, and we respect that by allowing only few others to know our names. Certain Pokémon may feel more comfortable with their name being spoken thanothers. But do not refer to a Pokémon by its name unless they have given you permission. This courtesy also extends to situations where those who do not know the Pokémon's name are involved. Some trainers sidestep this issue by giving their Pokémon two names: a personal name, and a nickname."_

"Thank you for telling me," said Miss Blake. "I'll besure to let my teammates know, too."

 _"I would appreciate that."_

"Do you have a nickname, Gaheris?"

 _"As is the case with many famous Pokémon, I have been given a name for the general populous to use. When we are in public, you may call me Gashus."_

With lunch over with, I assisted Miss Blake in a few targeting drills. As the afternoon wore on, she became much more efficient with her aura usage, and was able to reflexively form Hidden Power by evening. Halfway through the afternoon, Uetha woke up and took over Miss Blake's training, so I could work on my Realization.

The week passed quickly, but Lady Blake was a harsh taskmaster. Her style of training greatly reminded me of Master Gurkinn and Master Galafor. I felt stretched after each day, but I knew I was making great gains.

This was most clear on day four, when I sparredwith Lady Blake for the second time. She had been extremely helpful in guiding the development of my Realization, and had given me one usage I had not thought of. It was possible for my Realization to occupy the same space as me, and she taught me to abuse this by launching two attacks in the place of one, only manifesting a single arm or leg at a time.

Still, she never revealed any further techniques, and I only managed to land three hits on her. I asked her about a few matters afterward, and she shared with me this:

"Gaheris, your advice was very formative for my time here. I would not have accepted certain events and I would have lost out on some of my fondest memories. For that, I thank you."

I, in turn, thanked her for not using my name until after giving Miss Blake permission to do so. It onlyoccurred to me after the fact, but had she used it beforehand, I may have been put off without realizing why.

Cynthia grew the most of any of us, able to use her aura defensively and offensively to boost her strikes. Lady Blake had run her through countless exercises to build up her physical ability, and outlined three separate training regimens that she could switch between when she had other responsibilities.

Uetha occasionally joined in the training, but preferred to do as she pleased, and Lady Blake never pushed any of her buttons, content to workthe three of us to the bone. I had never formed more than a basic camaraderie between us, as I found it hard to reconcile our attitudes towards hard work. I still respected her as a teammate, and would work together if need be, but I never made the effort to become friends.

Miss Blake, on the other hand, threw herself headfirst into the training. She gained a mastery over the Ghost-type I would not have believed, and was incorporating it into any attack she could. She even started work on the portals that Lady Blake used, though she hadn't managed a safe enough portal that Lady Blake would accept her passing through it. I readily understood the dangers of such a technique, and approved of her caution.

After one final night of rest, Lady Celebi arrived to take us back to the past. When she arrived, I could feel the weight of her presence, and it was roughly double that of any one of the Lake Guardians. She smiled at us, and in a flash of light, we were gone.

* * *

 **A/N:** If it wasn't clear, Uetha is Cynthia's Meowstic.


	14. Volume 11: Horizon

**Volume 11: Horizon**

* * *

 **Ruby vs. Arcanine III**

* * *

I glanced over at Rowan, who was looking over the data in his machine, then back to Yang. I had immediately noticed that the portal had changed color from black to a navy blue, but what this change meant I had no idea.

"It's back," I whispered.

 _"_ _Getting anything?"_ Yang asked Rowan.

 _"_ _The dimensional space is stabilizing again,"_ Rowan answered.

 _"_ _Is there anything else we can do here?"_

He sighed. _"_ _I'd like to collect some more data before we go back. Perhaps a half an hour."_

I rubbed Arcanine's neck fur, letting the warmth seep into my stiff fingers. _"_ _I'm going to go explore a bit. Be back later."_

Arcanine started jogging at my command, and took me back out into the woods. I really didn't expect to see anything I hadn't already seen during the patrols, but it was a nice change of pace from the whitewashed hospital walls.

 _"_ _Did you want to go super fast again?"_ I asked when Arcanine started picking up the pace.

He barked in assent, and I activated my Semblance. It had been a spur of the moment decision to use it earlier, and I was excited to know that it worked. We had been moving so fast I could hardly see where we were going.

I hugged Arcanine's neck tighter, willing my Semblance into his footsteps. We tore through the forest, Arcanine's paws barely touching the ground before bounding onward.

As my Semblance wore off, we slowed, but I could see the glint in Arcanine's eyes—he was hooked. Each use took a large chunk of my aura reserves, so I told him, _"_ _I've got about two more of those. Let's save them for something cool."_

We continued through the forest, and I couldn't help but be amazed at his endurance. He had clearly trained tremendously hard to be able to run such long distances, and it showed in the way he regulated his breathing, the practiced motion of each step, and his firm attitude.

The forest slope increased for a short while, when the tree line opened up to reveal a large lake. Arcanine skidded to a stop by the shore, kicking up snow. The lake was partially frozen over, and extended most of the way out to a small island in the center. I squinted, trying to judge the distance between the ice sheet and the island. _"_ _Do you think we can make it to the island?"_

Arcanine yipped, indicating his willingness, but I detected doubt in the dog. _"_ _We can use my Semblance,"_ I offered.

He considered it, and barked yes. He tested the ice, and finding it thick enough for his liking, stepped out onto the lake. Starting slow, Arcanine built up speed. To make the jump, I would need to judge when to activate my Semblance, to give him the best boost in speed.

Arcanine used his Extreme Speed, and at the right second, I blanketed him in my Semblance. He pushed off the edge of the ice, his every energy in the jump.

I didn't hear the ice crack, but when Arcanine's jump fell short, I had enough time to realize my miscalculation before we were plunged into the frigid lake water.

I let go of Arcanine before my muscles could tense up from the cold, and swam to the surface. The black water hadn't looked very deep, but I could easily have misjudged it. Taking in lungfuls of cold air to replace what the water had knocked out of me, I looked around for Arcanine.

After glancing about me, I realized why this had been a poor idea. I was wearing heavy clothing to protect myself from the cold, and it was bogging me down. The only easy layer to shed in the freezing water was my cloak. I unclasped it. Still not seeing Arcanine, I then remembered that he was a Fire-type, and thus weak to water. Looking into the water, I could see a brief flash of fire as he struggled to surface.

Taking another deep breath, I dove towards where the light had come from. When I put my hand on Arcanine, he was shivering as he flailed about. I needed a plan.

I had one more use of my Semblance, but how effective it would be was dependant on too many factors. I needed a place to boost off of; otherwise, I would waste my energy. I didn't have much time to put all the details in place. I swam for the lake floor, hoping it would be relatively shallow.

Arcanine let off another blast of fire, which fizzled out, sending water vapor bubbles streaming to the surface. The brief flash of light gave me all the knowledge I needed to get us out of this mess.

Touching down on the lake bottom, I prepared as much of my aura as I could and blasted forward. I grabbed Arcanine around the middle, and we broke the surface. I had aimed us as well I could towards the island, knowing that getting caught under the ice or making it back on just to break again would kill us.

We soared through the air, but as we peaked, I could see it just wasn't enough. As we continued back towards the water, I made myself think. How could I get us out of this mess?

The biggest problem was Arcanine. He couldn't swim; I could. If there was a way to prevent him from getting back in the water, I could make it to land.

Then I remembered his Poké Ball. I still had it in my pouch, waiting to be used. But there was no way I could reach it in time to avoid the water. So I resigned myself to a second dousing. As soon as we splashed down, I treaded water, and tried to unbuckle my pouch. My fingers were cold and unyielding, but I forced them to move, while also trying to stay afloat. I was on an even tighter schedule than before, as I was starting to freeze up.

I finally detached the pouch from my belt, and opened it, fumbling with Arcanine's Poké Ball. I pressed the button, and I breathed a sigh of relief when I saw the red light flash back. Arcanine was safe, placed back in the closed pouch. Now to do something about myself.

The ice extending from the island was maybe ten feet away, but as I pulled up next to it, I realized I didn't know how I was going to pull myself up. With no handholds or grips, I had nothing I could use to get out of the water and onto the ice. If I had something sharp, I could make it.

I reached to my belt for my cross, but realized it wasn't there because I wasn't wearing my combat outfit. I was seriously starting to get cold now, my aura doing nothing to protect against it. With little options, I sunk as deep as I could, holding on to the edge of the ice, and kicked up, using what little I could of my Semblance to boost me.

I almost made it onto the ice, flopping onto my stomach. Trying to inch my way forward, I pushed myself up and flopped again. This time, I heard the ice crack.

Instead of flopping again, and risking the ice breaking, I slowly pulled myself along. My skin froze on contact to the ice, but I ripped it off anyway, moving further onto the ice. My hands were now bloody and I likely had frostbite and hypothermia, but I had to make it to land before I could assess that.

Once I felt comfortable on the ice, I reopened my pouch, desperately trying to make my fingers move. I pressed the button for Arcanine's Poké Ball, and grabbed onto his leg. I felt him grab me by the neck, and start to drag me. I barely felt the transition from ice to snow, but I was fighting to stay conscious. I had heard the stories of the hunters who went to sleep in the cold and never woke up. Warmth began to radiate around me, and I curled into a ball, clinging to my pouch.

I stayed half conscious for a while, just lying there. Arcanine was warm, and I snuggled as close to him as I could get. His fur was still slightly damp, but otherwise he seemed to be okay. I knew that I shouldn't make any rash decisions, especially with my slowly warming body.

So I just lay there, resting up against Arcanine's lovely fur.

I was startled from my tired almost-sleep when I heard Yang calling my name. At first, I dismissed it, but when she called again, I sat up. "Yang?" I called out uncertainly.

"Ruby!"

"Yang!" She came running in, and when she saw me, she scooped me up in her arms and held me tight.

"I was so worried about you," she whispered.

"I'm alright, really," I said. "I just thought it would be fun to go to the island, but I misjudged the jump, and I had to get us out of the water, and then I got really cold, and Arcanine warmed me up, and then you got here."

"Are you okay? Hurt anywhere?" she asked as she brushed aside my hair, setting me back down on the ground.

I showed her my palms, which I had hurriedly bandaged. "We'll have to get those taken care of," said Yang. "Are you cold at all?"

I shook my head. "Arcanine is a great big warm fireball."

I paused. "How did you find me? I don't think I was gone _that_ long."

 _"_ _I was able to lock on to your aura signature and follow you here,"_ answered a voice I hadn't expected. Lucario, Blake, and Cynthia all stood alongside Rowan and Alakazam, smiling at me.

"Blake!" I exclaimed. "You're okay!"

"Yep. Got a little held up, that's all."

I rolled my eyes, and motioned her over so I could give her a hug. "I need details, Blakey."

"I'll you all about it at the Pokémon Center," promised Blake. "We have a lot to talk about."

* * *

 **Weiss vs. Ice Ring**

* * *

I sat, weaving the ice particles around me in simple patterns. Once I felt comfortable manifesting larger chunks of ice, I had decided to work on my individual control. Since the larger shards were more difficult to work with, I had started small. To test my limits, I kept adding more particles to the mix, and making more complex designs.

For now, that meant half were rotating clockwise, and half counterclockwise. I had further separated them into four rings each, with each ring alternating directions. So far, I hadn't lost control once, though I could feel myself straining when I added more particles or rings.

And now I felt my control was good enough to move on to the next challenge. Up until this point, each ring had a static radius, but now I was adding size control as well. I started with only one ring, and immediately found myself concentrating harder, just to retain control of the swarm.

Frankly, I was amazed at the amount of progress I was making. Whether this had been affected by the brief elemental training I had attempted in the past few weeks, or my familiarity with Ice Dust, I didn't know.

I started altering the size of another ring, and felt the usual strain to keep the ice particles in order. I was also carefully monitoring my aura level, so that I knew when I should stop.

The next ten minutes saw me achieving control over each ring size, which pulsated rapidly. So I sought the next challenge: differing speeds. As soon as I tried to slow down only one ring, I discovered that this would be a greater challenge than I first thought. Once I altered the speed of one ring, it destabilized the rings around it far more than the size alteration had. It wasn't insurmountable, but not easy.

So I moved on. It wouldn't do to limit myself to a single exercise. I took the rotating ice particles and converged them into two rings around each of my hands. Experimentally, I tried to solidify the ice particles surrounding my left hand into a sword shape. I managed to fuse the ice together, but it hardly resembled the refined rapier I used. Still, I gave it a few experimental swings.

The primary issue I needed to fix was the balance. While the shape had little aesthetic, it was serviceable, other than the balance issue. To fix that, I took ice particles from my right hand and added them to the hilt, cross guard, and pommel. I tested it again, and found it to be functional.

I started my fencing forms, testing the durability of my impromptu weapon. It withstood my basic form, but I wondered how well it could parry or cut.

I was about to move on when Yang burst in through the door.

"Did you find anything that might help us find Blake?" I asked.

"Better. She's back." I discarded my weapon, letting it shatter on the floor. Lowering the leftover ice particles onto the floor, I followed Yang back to the conference room we had claimed as our meeting room.

"How is she?" I asked.

"She looks well," replied Yang. "But she has a pretty wild tale."

"I'm just glad she's alright."

"Me too Weiss," echoed Yang. "Me too."

Blake, Cynthia, and Lucario were all waiting for us when we arrived. I noticed bandages on Ruby's hands, and her cloak was missing. She didn't look troubled, but I could tell she was dwelling on something.

We all listened as Blake and Cynthia wove their tale. Blake told of the Balaurus fight on the other side of the portal, how Lucario had handled the fight with ease. Then they had traveled back through the portal, when it had collapsed. Cynthia explained that they had woken up in the future.

I would have found it hard to believe, if I hadn't seen the time dilation between the dimensions firsthand. They each shared brief explanations of the training they had accomplished, and showed off the results. Lucario's Semblance was similar to Sun's, in that it formed an autonomous clone. Blake had completed her Shadow Claw move, and learned a new sphere attack, which she called Hidden Power. Cynthia did a practical demonstration of her aura, flaring it to deflect Blake's Hidden Power.

I could already tell that Cynthia's aura was more polished than was usual for a beginner. She already had displayed great discipline, and that shone through in her aura.

After they finished, we had to address the big issue: what to do moving forward. Both Blake and Cynthia said that Future Blake had been particularly unhelpful in revealing future events, but I could see the utility in that. The less we knew about the future, the easier it was for the time loop to stay stable. But as soon as we learned anything else, it could be used against us.

Yang and Flint weren't convinced of my view, but Blake, Cynthia, and Rowan all agreed that my analysis was logical. The less we knew of events, the better.

On the other hand, I was all for gaining knowledge for training. And Future Blake had agreed with me. She had taught principles for advancement, and just from Blake's brief description, I was getting excited, primarily because I was already applying some of those principles.

The core principle Future Blake had laid out for elemental training was developing an affinity for the type of choice. It was easiest with your Hidden Power type, which was just your inborn affinity towards an element. It also appeared to have an influence on Semblances, though how much I was unsure. Future Blake had handily confirmed our Hidden Powers, so we didn't have to waste time figuring them out.

There was a lot to learn, but only so much time. Cynthia's theory was vital to our future, especially in regards to when we would return home. If her theory was correct, we would have a period of about three weeks before the next portal opened, and another four weeks before the final portal closed.

Already, in the back of my mind, the biggest question of all was still unanswered. What would happen to the Pokémon we had befriended? Would we be allowed to take them with us? Would they even want to come?

I knew that was an issue for a later date, so I didn't bring it up. We continued discussing options for the next seven weeks, and we came to a fairly unanimousdecision.

Until the portal still open closed, we would stay in Snowpoint, beginning our training here. Cynthia predicted that the portal would close in about a week, giving us plenty of time to discuss the next phase. Kalos had been brought up several times in conversation, especially training under a man named Gurkinn.

I didn't particularly care what environment we trained in, as long as it met my standards as a safe place to train. Snowpoint met those, but if there were more suitable locations, preferably places we could let loose a little more, then I was open to moving.

Palmer brought up a good question when he asked, _"_ _Who are we all going to involve in this?"_

 _"_ _Before you can decide that,"_ I added on, _"_ _you need to figure out what priority this is. Do you think you're capable of taking care of this on your own? Or will you need backup?"_

Cynthia mulled that over for a moment. _"_ _I think this is a big enough issue that we should at least inform the rest of the Gym Leaders, and Lucian and Bertha. But Weiss brings up some valid points. Keep in mind we can always bring more people on board later."_

 _"_ _I already messaged Lucian so we could talk later,"_ said Flint. _"_ _He hasn't replied yet, but sometime tonight we can fill him in."_

Several names were thrown back and forth, including the other Frontier Brains—I wasn't entirely sure what they did, but Palmer was one—a few researchers, and other strong trainers. As I knew none of the people they were talking about, I just listened.

 _"_ _We can discuss this at a later time. For now, let's figure out our own involvement,"_ finished Cynthia. _"_ _For all that we want to help out, we have public appearances and duties to maintain."_

 _"_ _I have the rest of this month off,"_ said Palmer, _"_ _and I'm willing to spend that here."_

 _"_ _If I take care of a few things this week, I should be free for about three weeks,"_ said Flint.

 _"_ _I'm not sure how much longer I'll be available,"_ said Aaron. _"_ _I have a challenge match coming up, but this wouldn't be a bad preparation time."_

 _"_ _When is it?"_ asked Flint.

 _"_ _Three weeks from tomorrow,"_ Aaron answered. _"_ _He's the guy who took on Lucian first, and won, about two months ago."_

Flint snapped his fingers. _"_ _Yeah, that guy. Okay."_

Aaron turned to Cynthia. _"_ _How about you?"_

 _"_ _I'm surprisingly free, for the next two months. This is cutting into my usual vacation time, but I feel this is important enough that I stay involved."_

 _"_ _As much as I would like to join you,"_ said Rowan, _"_ _I have other research to return to. I will, of course, make time to assist you if you ask, and I will have several instruments collecting dimensional data."_

 _"_ _Do you still want your aura unlocked?"_ I asked. _"_ _Even if you don't have time to train it, it still will be useful."_

 _"_ _No reason not to, I suppose,"_ agreed Rowan.

 _"_ _I can take care of that,"_ volunteered Blake. _"_ _Future Blake taught me how."_

She placed a hand on his shoulder, and began the process. Blake's purple aura surfaced, and I noticed that it seemed…fuller…somehow. More complete. Whether that had occurred during her training, or because I was seeing it in full for the first time, I wasn't sure.

"For it is in freedom that we achieve immortality. Through this, we become a paragon of equality and liberty to rise above all, infinite in scale and unbound by service. I release your soul, and by my shoulder protect thee."

Rowan's aura manifested, shining a mint green color. He simply sat there, relaxing. I didn't blame him for it. He was a hard worker, pulling long hours, and deserved the relief his aura brought to his tired frame. _"_ _Thank you."_

Barry then indicated his willingness to help out. While he might be the weakest trainer here, he was gung ho about the whole matter, which I appreciated.

On the other hand, Beck would join us for as long as we stayed in Snowpoint. He expressed his disinterest in travel, preferring to stay at his home, saying, _"_ _I'm old, and as much as I like a good fight, I don't particularly care for any travel. But as long as you're in the area, I'll tag along. Never too old to stop improving."_

Jamie had been on the fence, but when we assured her that she didn't have involve herself more than she was comfortable with, she agreed to stay.

 _"_ _What about the other trainers and the Pokémon Rangers we worked with?"_ asked Ruby.

 _"_ _I know that Candice is too busy running the Gym, and I suspect her two assistants will also pass,"_ I said. _"_ _Some of the trainers had other obligations to attend to, and others got scared after seeing the Goliaths, and I can't blame them for that. Beyond that, I believe the Rangers were called away for another assignment."_

Cynthia nodded. _"_ _With myself and two Elite Four members on the job, the Rangers were sent on other missions."_

 _"_ _So for now, this will be our team,"_ said Flint. He paused. _"_ _Is anyone else getting hungry? Because I could use a good meal right about now."_

 _"_ _Today has been a tough day,"_ agreed Palmer. _"_ _Let's eat."_

* * *

 **Blake vs. Phantom Force**

* * *

After supper, we finished unlocking everyone's aura. Weiss had taught Ruby while I was away, and led Yang through unlocking Jamie's aura. I unlocked Aaron's, Ruby unlocked Palmer's, and Weiss unlocked Barry's. Yang had enough aura left over that she unlocked Beck's aura, capping off our aura unlocking spree.

When we'd finished, I told my team I needed to talk to them. There had been a number of small things that Future Blake had said over the week that needed to be shared.

I was glad to have an evening to rest, as Future Blake had pushed me every waking moment to work harder. While it certainly helped me improve, I hadn't had much time to relax. It reminded me of when I first started training with Gambol Shroud, under Adam. He was only marginally lighter when it came to training, always pushing me to do my best. Quite literally, he had shaped me into the person I was now.

Having grown up on the streets of Menagerie, he sought to know why we had been forced to live in that hellhole. Wherever he went, he pushed himself to learn everything he could. Whether it was fighting or book learning, he didn't care. He joined the White Fang at age ten, where he met me, age five, defiant and inquisitive.

Initially, he had pushed me away from fighting, insisting that we could change the world through peaceful methods, and forced me to read anything he could get his hands on—after he had finished it, of course.

When I finally started training, he worked with me for countless hours, practicing each ribbon throw over and over until I got it right. He would be there, drawing his sword again and again beside me.

And then he had changed. Gone was the intelligent, caring youth. Instead, a hateful, driven monster took his place as our efforts failed. He would rage against the people in power, against the ignorant, apathetic sheep that masqueraded as humans.

I shook my head, throwing my thoughts of Adam out of my head. I had made my choice; I didn't need to dwell on it.

"So," said Weiss as she sat down on Ruby's hospital bed, "talk."

"Did it feel weird to be learning from yourself?" asked Ruby.

"A little, yeah," I replied. "But if you guys could not ask questions yet, I can talk better."

"Okay," said Ruby.

"There's a couple things I need to talk to you about," I continued. "The first has to with Pokémon names."

I quickly laid out everything Gaheris had shared with me, starting with how they dealt with names.

"That…makes a lot of sense, actually," commented Weiss. "I guess I never really thought about it until just now."

"Yeah," agreed Yang. "Kinda hope I didn't insult Hosaki, back when we first met him."

"I don't think you did," Weiss assured her. "It was obvious we couldn't understand each other, and he was the one who volunteered it."

"I guess."

"The next big topic I wanted to talk about was my training under Future Blake," I said. "The biggest thing to share is exactly how elemental aura works."

"I was getting curious about that," said Weiss.

I formed a Hidden Power, restricting the amount of typed aura inside it. "I already told you that the first thing I worked on was Hidden Power. It's actually pretty easy to get the basic form down, but the hard part is this—"

I filled the Hidden Power orb with as much Ghost type aura as I could, turning it from a mostly white sphere with purple specks into a dark purple ball. "I just amplified the amount of Ghost-type aura in the Hidden Power. It's really helpful for attuning to your element. But you can only do this for your natural element."

"Is that because of the way the technique works?" asked Ruby. "I mean, does it connect to your element automatically?"

"Something like that," I confirmed. "Future Blake told me it's a little different when a Pokémon uses it, because they already have innate typing. But she warned me not to try using Hidden Power with a different type. It just doesn't work."

"So how _do_ you learn another type?" asked Ruby. "Is it just a trial and error kind of thing, or…?"

"She didn't tell me anything about that, so I figure that's the case. It's probably best to stick to our natural element anyway, at least for now."

"Speaking of that, you said that Future Blake told you what our natural elements are?" Yang asked.

"She did," I answered. "Fire for you, Ice for Weiss, Ghost for myself, and Air for Ruby."

"I knew it!" Ruby cried.

"What?" asked Weiss.

"That I'm an Air-type," Ruby answered. "I thought it was either that or Grass, and I just knew it was Air. Do you think I can learn to fly?"

"I…don't know," I said. "It might be possible? Future Blake could do a lot of things with her Ghost-typed aura. One of those things was this."

I covered myself in Ghost-type aura, sliding out of their dimension and reappearing behind Yang. It took several seconds to slip through the dimensional barrier, but once I was through, I squeezed Yang's sides. She yelped and slapped my hands away, laughing.

"You can teleport!" exclaimed Ruby.

"Not exactly," I replied. "The actual teleportation technique takes everything from one spot to another. Phantom Force is more like covering yourself in a portal. At least, that's how I understand it."

"What kind of portal?" asked Weiss. "Is it at all similar to what Hoopa does?"

"I asked the same question, but Future Blake just smirked at me and said, 'Figure it out yourself.' She could open a portal to the refrigerator and grab whatever she liked from it."

"Either way, that sounds extremely handy," said Weiss. "Have you tried going through walls yet?"

I shook my head. "I'm not good enough with the technique yet. I can do it, but it takes a couple seconds before I'm ready to do it. Beck's Banette can use it on reflex."

"That's really impressive, though," said Yang. "Conghostulations."

"That's a poor Yang-phemism," I retorted. "You should feel ash-amed about that you've let Yang-self burn out this far."

"Triple burn there sis," Ruby snickered.

"You realize this means war," declared a grinning Yang.

"I know," I said, pulling out a pear I'd swiped at dinner and taking a bite. "I'm pre-peared for it."

"Blake, you realize she's going to pull out every pun she can think of, right?" Weiss whispered, leaning over to me.

"I'm counting on it," I whispered back.

Weiss gave me a look that told me this conversation wasn't over. "If you're sure…."

I nodded. When we were alone, Future Blake had given me three directives. The first was a catchall directive to watch out for my team—especially Ruby. She'd told me that I needed to rescue her right when I got back, and to make sure she had a talk with Palmer. They shared a natural element, and I assumed it had something to do with that.

But I needed to talk to both Weiss and Yang one on one in the near future. Declaring a prank war was all I needed to catch their attention, and they would approach me in different ways.

Weiss preferred a direct confrontation, and if I wasn't careful, would call me out on it. She didn't like secrets, and tried to make sure no hidden surprises endangered us. On the other hand, Yang would pull me to the side and ask what was up. If she had a significant problem with what I was doing, she would bring up an example of why I couldn't continue in that fashion.

The second directive was to visit the portal one final time with Weiss in tow. It wouldn't be hard to stage waking her up as I snuck out after Yang went to sleep when she slept the lightest of us all.

The third I was the most unsure about, but Future Blake had implied it was the most important of the three. When we made it to Kalos, we were to split up into smaller groups. I could see the utility of it during training to use separate places, but she had suggested going in complete opposite directions.

"Blake, Yang is going to learn how to control copious amounts of fire. She's going to need the space."

There was something she wasn't telling me, but she wasn't telling it to me for a reason. I was willing to accept her wisdom—to a point. If there was one relief I had, it was that I would survive at least until I trained myself, due to the time loop being stable.

"Did she say anything about how Semblances factor into this?" asked Yang.

"Actually, she did." I paused to clear my throat, and continued. "Semblances and natural elements have a direct connection, in that Semblances are fueled by elemental aura. It's almost always some mixture of elemental types, which is part of the reason why Semblances are unique. For example, Ruby's Semblance is mostly comprised of two elements: Air and Grass."

"I get it," said Ruby. "So Yang's would be Fire and Fighting?"

I nodded. "Mine is almost exclusively Ghost, which is unusual. But the elemental composition has little to do with its power, but it can have an effect on its versatility. The easiest way to modify your Semblance is with Dust, but it can be done with elemental aura, as well. After all, it's what they are made of."

"What do you mean by versatility?" asked Ruby.

"Take Weiss's Semblance, for example. In its normal state, it has no other effects other than a simple platform. At least, that's what it looks like. In actuality, each of her glyphs have two sides. One side has a 'cling' effect to it, while the other has a 'repel' effect to it. But she has the ability to increase one side or the other, and the ability to reverse sides at any time."

"Did Future Blake use my Semblance as an example to explain this?" accused Weiss.

"So her ice and time boosts are from the repel side?" deduced Ruby. "What happens if you use the cling side?"

"Actually, both of the Dust effects are with the cling side," corrected Weiss. "The 'cling' effect is what makes the Lightning Dust take effect like that. I don't use the repel side, because I can't control the effect well."

"So how does this tie in with elemental aura, then?" Yang asked, running a hand through her hair.

"It has to do with the nature of Dust," I answered.

* * *

 **Yang vs. Dust**

* * *

"The nature of Dust?"

Blake nodded. "Dust is very interesting because it has its own elemental properties. In a number of ways, it reflects the elemental aura system, and in other ways, it has opposite concepts. For instance, combining Water Dust and Wind Dust makes Ice Dust, but all three are separate and equal elements."

"That's weird," commented Ruby.

"Additionally, there are Dust varieties that do not correspond to a single element, like Lava and Gravity. Now, both of these can be combined, but are also found naturally."

"What are you getting at?" asked Weiss. "We already know this."

Blake pulled a small vial of Dust from her pocket and tossed it to Weiss. "What can you tell me about this?"

Weiss turned it over in her hand, examining the sample. "It…looks like Gravity Dust, but the color isn't right." She handed it back to Blake. "I would need a demonstration to really understand it."

"Do you have any Dust I could look at?" she asked.

Weiss shook her head. "I have a small Time Dust crystal, but that's for emergencies. I used the rest of my supply against the Goliath."

"You could use some of the Burn Dust from one of my cartridges," I offered. "I still have a few left."

I fished out a round and passed it to her. She took it and dismantled the casing, pouring out the Burn Dust onto her hand. Taking a small pinch, she put the remaining Burn Dust back into the casing. She flared her aura, inputting it into the Burn Dust, but didn't activate it.

I raised an eyebrow, but she grabbed a pebble from her bag, scattering the still aura infused Burn Dust around the small stone. Her brow furrowed in concentration as she encased the pebble in her aura. I noticed that instead of the usual purple, her aura was oddly white.

Her breathing grew more rapid as she kept channeling her aura into the pebble. But as I watched, the pebble started shining. When it stopped, I could see slight patches of red crystal all across the pebble.

"…what did you just do?" asked Weiss as she stared at the pebble in Blake's hand.

Blake handed the pebble to her, taking in gulps of air. "Are you okay?" I asked.

She smiled, still breathing heavily. "Yeah. Just tired. That took more out of me than I thought it would. I haven't done anything with Burn Dust before."

Weiss turned the pebble over in her hand, still in shock. "Did…did you just _create_ Dust?"

"Not exactly," Blake replied. "I made more."

She pulled out the vial of Dust she had shown us earlier. "Future Blake made this from a single grain of Gravity Dust and a pile of dirt. It's impure, which is why it looks off, but it's otherwise usable."

"H–how did you do that?" asked Weiss. She massaged her temples, saying, "Synthesized Dust has been sought after for _years_. How on _earth_ did you manage to do what the top researchers have not?"

"There are several ingredients necessary for it to work," explained Blake. "The first is a person capable of generating typeless aura."

"What do you mean, typeless aura?" asked Ruby. "I thought all aura had an element."

"Typeless aura has its own element: Basic," answered Blake. "That's the reason why it can't have a Hidden Power—its very definition prevents it from happening."

"So what are the other 'ingredients' necessary?" demanded Weiss.

"The next is a sample of the Dust you are trying to create," continued Blake. "Since you are using typeless aura, you can't make any elemental aura, so the Dust provides that template for you."

"I get it," said Ruby. "And then you need something to make the new Dust out of."

"Precisely," confirmed Blake. "Natural crystals like quartz work best for making Dust crystals, but other dense objects work just fine."

"What about dirt, then?" inquired Weiss. "You said that Future Blake could use dirt for making the Gravity Dust."

"She's also much more practiced at this than I am," countered Blake. "She also used about three times more dirt to get that amount of Dust. And even then, she had to strain out some of the more obvious imperfections."

Weiss sighed, and Ruby patted her on the arm. "Are you okay Weiss?"

"I'm fine," she answered. "I'm just trying to wrap my head around this. True Dust synthesis was thought to be impossible."

"And in some ways it is," added Blake. "The Dust I just made is a very flawed imitation. It won't burn as bright or for as long as refined Burn Dust."

"At least we have a way to get some Dust now," I said.

"How long did it take you to learn how to use typeless aura?" asked Weiss.

"After learning how to influence how much typed aura went into a Hidden Power, it came rather naturally," said Blake. "We spent a single afternoon making Dust, and she gave me some Dust to help you when we start making them."

She grabbed a small set of vials and handed them to Weiss. "There's some Ice, Lightning, Wind, Burn, Lava, and the Gravity Dust in here. We can start experimenting with this once you have a good grasp on typeless aura."

"We had better," retorted Weiss.

"Did Future Blake show you any tricks with Dust?" asked Ruby.

Blake shook her head. "She was focusing more on aura techniques, and giving me guidance on that."

"You never finished your point with Dust," I pointed out.

"Oh, right." She cleared her throat. "What I was getting at was that there were a lot of ways that Dust can modify your Semblance, but that you can do it with elemental aura as well. It's just a lot more difficult."

"How difficult?" I asked.

"How hard would it be, instead of using fire to power yourself up, you used water? Or if Weiss had to make a Haste glyph without any Lightning Dust?"

I didn't really have a reply. Trying to use my Semblance to create water instead of fire? I didn't really want to think about trying to do that.

"Now, I'm not saying that all Semblance manipulation is like that," Blake assured us. "We all do it to some degree already; but we can do better."

Weiss held up her hand. "I want to try something quick."

With no cries of dissent, she formed a glyph in midair, and a small ice crystal formed. She looked pleased, even when it clattered to the ground after she let the glyph fade.

"Have you been practicing your ice aura?" asked Blake.

Weiss nodded. "I was while you were off on your future adventure."

"Show us!" demanded Ruby.

Weiss leapt to her feet dramatically, bringing her hands together, forming particles of ice and crafting them into a sword as she drew her hands apart. Jabbing at Blake, she exclaimed, "Have at thee!"

Ruby started giggling, and I will admit to snickering a little, but Blake raised her forearm, encased in shadow. "Bring it."

That sent us all into laughter. "Careful," I warned, "this might turn into a caticetrophy."

Ruby kept snickering, but both Weiss and Blake gave me looks of impending doom. They made eye contact, and turned their weapons on me.

"So that's how this is going to be," I bemoaned. "Done in by my own teammates. Well, I won't go down without a fight."

Seeing the advancements my teammates had had had inspired me to experiment a little on the spot. Activating my Semblance, I poured aura into my hair, letting flames exude into the air. As they surrounded me, I channeled my aura through the fire, collecting it around my fists. "Prepare for battle!"

"Not in my room!" objected Ruby. "Out!"

I carefully extinguished my flames, while Blake let her shadow claws dissipate and Weiss set her ice sword down. We said our goodnights, and went back to our room. If Ruby was right about one thing, it was that fighting in that tiny hospital room was a capital 'B' Bad idea. Getting ready for bed, I settled down under the covers and drifted off to sleep.


	15. Volume 12: Innovations

**Volume 12: Innovations**

* * *

 **Ruby vs. Dragonite**

* * *

I woke the next morning, refreshed and ready to go. After a quick breakfast in bed, I rode Arcanine over to the Pokémon Center, where I waited for my team. Today was a training day, and I couldn't wait to begin. We had set a starting time for 8:00, so naturally, I had awoken at 6. I passed the time by playing with Slippers, showing her a couple of tricks with my aura, which she giggled at.

A couple of trainers passed by, and all of them sent sideways glances at my leg. So far, I had yet to be out in public with my injury, and drawing stares unnerved me. I tried to ignore it, but it was hard to shrug off pity. I just wanted to wrap myself in my cloak and hide, but without it…I shook my head to clear those unhappy thoughts.

One trainer had the courage to come up to me and apologize for staring, and I thanked him. When Yang finally showed up at around 7: 30, I followed her back into the conference room. Flint was also awake and yawning. He would just be around for the morning before leaving to take care of other business. I asked him about returning Arcanine, but he told me to hold onto him for now.

 _"I trust you to take care of him, and him to take care of you. And since we'll be seeing each other soon again anyway, it won't matter that much."_

The others slowly trickled in, until Jamie strode in the door at 7: 59. Cynthia and Blake took charge, explaining a few basic training exercises that the new aura users would undergo.

 _"We'll be splitting up into pairs for the duration of this training as such,"_ said Cynthia. _"I will be training Jamie, Ruby will be training Palmer, Weiss will be training Barry, Blake will be training Flint and Aaron, and Yang will be training Beck."_

I raised my hand. _"Why are we splitting into pairs, again?"_

 _"For better monitoring of progress,"_ answered Cynthia. _"One on one tutoring allows the tutor to move at the pace of the student."_

 _"Okay. Just wondering."_

Cynthia had procured private training rooms for the eleven of us, one for each pair. Palmer led the way to our training room, and I suddenly felt very nervous. I hadn't really talked to Palmer before, and now I was supposed to teach him how to use aura?

The training room was spacious enough for us to move around a little, so I wasn't worried about being cramped. But before I started training Palmer, I wanted to get to know him a little.

 _"Palmer,"_ I told him as he stood and I sat on my ride, _"I wanted to talk a little before we start, because we really don't know each other, and I thought we should fix that – I can go first."_

 _"Sounds good,"_ he agreed. _"What should I know about you, Ruby?"_

 _"Well,"_ I began, _"I'm training to be a_ Huntress _, because I want to help people. I like fighting, weapons, and_ strawberries _. Oh, and my dog, Zwei, and–"_

 _"_ Strawberries _?"_ interrupted Palmer. _"What are those?"_

It was then I realized that they didn't have strawberries here. While there were a variety of other berries that had odd tastes, Pecha Berries had a similar flavor, so I quickly explained what they were like. _"They're red berries that taste like Pecha Berries, but have more of a cone shape."_

 _"If you have the chance, I would like to try some,"_ said Palmer.

 _"Okay. And then I have Slippers,"_ I added, showing her to him, cradling her in my arms.

Palmer poked her in a couple spots, commenting, _"She has been well cared for."_

 _"Thank you."_

 _"I guess it's my turn, then?"_

 _"Yup."_

 _"I'm the Tower Tycoon at the Battle Frontier, and I love Pokémon battles. I've been training ever since I was a kid. I also love my family, my Pokémon, and onigiri."_

 _"What's the Battle Frontier?"_ I asked, sounding out the word.

 _"How much do you know about the Gym Circuit?"_ he asked back.

 _"Not a lot,"_ I admitted. _"Just that you have to battle the Gym Leader and you can get badges."_

 _"Okay, it's a bit more complicated than that. In order to face a Gym Leader, you have to defeat one of the Gym Trainers to be considered for a battle. The Gym Trainer then passes his recommendation onto the Gym Leader, who decides whether or not the trainer is ready for a battle. This battle not only tests your tactical mindset, but also your bond with your Pokémon. Additionally, most Gym Leaders will look for specific qualities or attributes in your Pokémon. Altogether, it makes each match a very difficult battle."_

 _"What happens if you lose?"_ I asked.

 _"It varies,"_ answered Palmer. _"Depending on the Gym, some Leaders will award you the badge because you passed the quality test. If you didn't, they will give you tips on what to work on before challenging again. After a week, you have the right to challenge again, once again battling the Gym Trainer. If the Gym Leader doesn't think you have improved enough, they can once again reject you, or you can battle again. This continues, adding a week in between battles each time you lose, until you gain the badge or give up. It is not uncommon for a trainer to spend over a month at a single Gym."_

 _"And what does this have to do with the Battle Frontier?"_

 _"In order to compete at the Battle Frontier, you must have completed at least one Gym Circuit, or eight badges, and competed in a League Tournament. Many trainers come seeking high level battlers or for a mentor to study under. There are five facilities that can test your wits and battling skills, and I am one of the Brains that run them. Mostly, trainers will battle against other trainers or employees of the facility. Once they gain enough wins or an impressive win loss ratio, they have the right to challenge me."_

 _"Sounds fun,"_ I commented.

 _"It is,"_ agreed Palmer.

 _"Oh, I never really got to meet your Pokémon, so why don't we introduce each other?"_ I suggested.

Palmer smiled and reached for his belt. He had the standard six Poké Balls, and sent out his team in quick succession. I immediately recognized the large weasel-like Pokémon—I think it was called Floatzel?—from our encounter on the river, his Milotic, and his Dragonite, but the other three were unfamiliar to me. One was a large purple pig, another was a Pokémon that looked like seaweed, and the third was a big dinosaur rock and had a big horn.

He gave me basic introductions to each one. Floatzel was his starter Pokémon, and liked to play around. He had caught Dragonite while on a visit to the Kanto Safari Zone—whatever that was. Milotic was the daughter of his mother's Milotic, given to him when he became a Frontier Brain. And Grumpig, Rhyperior, and Dragalge were all captures from his journey as a trainer.

Seeing Dragonite's small wing size reminded me of question I had had that I hadn't asked yet. _"How can Dragonite fly with such small wings?"_

Palmer considered this for a moment. _"You know, I'm not really sure,"_ he admitted. _"It might be some aura technique or something. Dragonite, when you fly, do you have to use aura to do it?"_

Dragonite considered it, and nodded.

 _"Teach me!"_ I exclaimed. Dragonite just quirked his eyebrows, and I elaborated, _"I can use your aura techniques."_

I gave him a quick demonstration by firing off an Air Slash. Dragonite stared at me for a moment, and gave me a thoughtful look. He flapped his wings twice, lifting off the ground, and I could see his aura boosting the power of his wing strokes.

 _"Does it look doable?"_ asked Palmer.

 _"A lot depends on how the technique is used,"_ I answered. _"If wings are absolutely necessary, then it will be more difficult. But I can do it."_

 _"So what's the first step?"_

 _"For learning to fly or aura?"_

 _"Both."_

 _"Well, the first step in flying is to see what other flying Pokémon do when they fly. Dragonite is manipulating the air around his wings to give them a larger presence, but other Pokémon may fly differently."_

 _"And for aura?"_

 _"We'll be starting with some meditation. I'll guide you through the process, so don't worry. I've done this a lot before. Let's start!"_

* * *

 **Weiss vs. Empoleon**

* * *

Barry turned out to be a very…independent student. In some ways, this was both good, and bad. His drive was matched by his talent, and he had quite a good understanding of how Pokémon aura worked. While he didn't have any Ice-types, his Empoleon was familiar with several ice techniques, and knew how they were structured.

With his grasp of Pokémon aura, he was able to apply that knowledge readily to his own training. After only an hour, he was already activating his defensive aura. I hadn't been quite sure where to place my expectations, but he had already blown them away. It had taken me over a month before my defensive aura manifested properly.

Still, when he was tired and taking a break, he would give me pointers. I was still mostly practicing pure ice manipulation, and I had both increased the amount of ice I was controlling, but I was also testing my radius of control. Within about twenty feet, I had near absolute control over the ice I had created, but that dropped off considerably after that.

Empoleon's single ice technique, Ice Beam, was helpful to view as a higher end ice technique, and the volume of ice he could produce on the drop of a hat was impressive. I did attempt to control his ice as he created it, but as I suspected, his hold over the ice was ironclad.

Lunch break seemed to come far too soon, as I was having a good time training. We each gave status updates on our progress. Ruby had continued the thought from the previous night of learning how to fly, but she gave ample evidence that she could learn how. Blake was spending time with Beck's Banette, learning the ins and outs of Phantom Force. And Yang was working especially hard on her flame control.

Progress for the new trainees was quite varied: while Barry had made excellent headway, Jamie and Aaron were struggling to grasp the concepts. Flint, Beck, and Palmer all had more average results. Cynthia was also making good progress, but she had had an excellent foundation already with her martial arts skills, and that had been compounded by Future Blake's efficient training methods.

As the afternoon session wore on, I gradually become more and more tired, so I instead focused my efforts on small control exercises that didn't take much aura, but stretched my mental boundaries. I wanted to try altering my Semblance with my elemental aura, but I didn't know how to go about doing that. I assumed Blake had been given some instruction, but we hadn't had the chance to talk alone yet.

I could tell that she was up to something, likely some mission that Future Blake had given her. Whatever it was, it was weighing heavily on her. So after supper, I pulled her aside and asked her what was up.

"It's nothing, really," she deflected.

"Blake," I said, staring at her pointedly. "I can tell something's up. Is it something Future Blake told you to do?"

Blake hesitated, and then nodded. "She wants me to take another look at the portal. I was going to ask you to come with."

"When?" I asked.

"Tonight, after everyone is asleep."

I considered that. "Are you sure you want to go then?"

She nodded. "Future Blake made it sound important I go as soon as possible; I don't know why. She didn't give me much details."

"Okay."

That evening was spent relaxing, though I kept a swirl of ice around my ankles, just for continued practice. I noticed that both Blake and Ruby were doing the same thing with their respective elements—Blake cloaking her hands in shadow and Ruby swirling the air around her.

Yang kept throwing puns at Blake whenever she could, but Blake always managed to have a retort ready. I was thankful for the chance to spend time with my team: the past week had been crazy, what with the portal opening up, tracking it down, the Goliaths, Ruby's injury, and Blake's time travel adventure. Even with the heavy training schedule, it was nice to sit back in the evenings and enjoy each other's company.

Most of our conversation revolved around Pokémon, and with the Pokédex that Barry had lent us, it was easy to explore what kinds of Pokémon existed. I was particularly interested in the Legendary Pokémon, beings like Dialga and Palkia that could rewrite reality. So I asked Cynthia to give me an overview of the many legends surrounding them.

She started with the beginning: the genesis of their world.

It began with the void. And in the void, the nothingness that stretched for eternity, an egg appeared. From within, a supreme being hatched, intent on shaping the world into paradise. So he created the universe, starting with Dialga, Palkia, and Giratina. He created Kyogre, Groudon, and Rayquaza to rule the seas, the earth, and the skies. Regigigas to move the continents, Heatran to stabilize the planet's core. He created Xerneas, bringer of life, Yveltal, bringer of death, and Zygarde, to balance the two. And then, created Azelf, Mesprit, and Uxie to govern the willpower, the emotions, and the knowledge of life.

Finally, he created Mew, an endlessly adaptable Pokémon to populate the earth. And Arceus fell into a deep slumber.

There were many questions I had about the story. While Remnant had many of its own creation myths, the most popular being the Oum myth, Cynthia presented this legend as fact. And from her tales of Dialga, Palkia, and Giratina, there had to be some truth in the story. But my biggest concern was that nowhere in her story did Cynthia explain the origins of humanity.

When I asked her about it, Cynthia replied seriously, _"No one knows. Humanity is an aberration, an unexplained presence. Some believe that humanity was created by Arceus at a later date; others believe that we were descended from an early variant of Mew. But there has been no conclusive evidence that either theory the correct one."_

Blake asked her about the multitude of other Legendary Pokémon that hadn't been created during creation. Cynthia explained that they were the remnants of powerful, unique, ancient Pokémon, many of which were now extinct. However, she explained, some of those ancient species were being revived through new technology. Several species now had breeding populations and had been added to the Pokédex.

After a few more questions, Cynthia retired for the night, and we all decided it was time for bed. I caught Blake's eye, and she nodded. We were going to the portal tonight.

Yang fell asleep quickly, giving us plenty of time to both explore and get some sleep later. The Pokémon Center was open 24/7, so we didn't have to worry about being locked out, so when Blake finally slipped out of bed, I tiptoed after her into the hallway.

There was still a fair amount of traffic in the lobby as we stepped out into the bitter cold outside. While I was quite used to the cold, Blake was far more sensitive to temperatures than I was. I wondered if my ice element contributed to my resistance at all.

"Hey Weiss," said Blake, "I want to try something. Can I take your hand?"

I gave it to her, raising one eyebrow. She closed her eyes in concentration, shadow enveloping her. As it encased her hand, the shadow crawled over my hand, extending up my arm, until it reached my body. My first instinct was to fight off the encroaching shadow, but I held off, letting Blake take over. When the shadow completely covered me, she took a deep breath. In the span of a single moment, I felt stretched, compressed into a singularity. I couldn't sense anything, and it took all my self control not to flare my aura to break the sensation. This was a delicate operation, and any interference on my part could be devastating.

Suddenly, I could see again. I staggered back, taking several deep breaths to calm my racing heart. The portal hung in the night air, the dark blue amalgamation standing out against the silvery white snow glittering under the moonlight. "The portal has changed colors," I observed.

Blake stepped up to the portal, tracing her fingers along the rim. Shadowy tendrils reached forth, needling through the portal ring. "What are you doing?" I whispered.

"Concentrating. Be quiet," she ordered. Continuing the process for another minute, she finished her analysis, the shadowy tendrils retreating. Immediately afterward, she traced a smaller circle in the air, shadows trailing behind her fingers, until she finished the circle.

"What are you—" I started, but she lifted her other hand to show she wasn't done yet. I realized what she was doing as she covered herself in shadow. Blake leapt through her circle, disappearing in a flash of purple light. All she left behind was the still intact circle, covered in a membrane of purple light. "Blake!"

But she was gone. Muttering about the reckless behaviors of my teammates, I followed her, leaping into the portal she had created.

* * *

 **Blake vs. Heracross II**

* * *

I huffed as the drain from using such an aura intensive technique sapped my strength. I had suspected that making a portal of my own would drain me, but sustaining it was another matter altogether. Snowpoint City lay not a mile away, easily within walking distance. While my end goal was the traversal between dimensions, I wasn't stupid enough to try to cross on my first try. Even if I had been rescued by Celebi the first time, I wasn't confident in a second mercy.

Weiss appeared, and I let the portal stop. "That was beyond reckless," Weiss reproached. "At least tell me what you're going to do before you do it."

"I had everything under control."

"No, you didn't. I wasn't informed, so I couldn't have made rational decisions based on your actions alone."

"Sorry. I just–"

"Just nothing. Consider your apology accepted, on the condition your next attempt is also under my supervision." Her features softened. "You don't have to do this alone, Blake."

"…Thanks."

"Was there anything else you wanted to do tonight?"

I shook my head. "Tomorrow night."

"Okay."

We walked back to the Pokémon Center in silence.

Waking early for another full day of training, I ate my breakfast of soup and an omelet, and met with Aaron. Today was going to be interesting, because everyone had collectively decided that they would start training with their Pokémon as well. I had no qualms with this, but I wasn't sure how our efficiency would hold up. Flint had left the night before, meaning I no longer had to split my attention three ways—a large distraction.

As Aaron sent out each of his Pokémon that he had with him, I placed guesses on which they were, having overheard him describe his Pokémon's capabilities during the initial strategy meeting. I immediately recognized his Heracross, but the difference between Barry's and Aaron's was clear. Aaron's stood nearly a foot taller, his horn was thicker at the base, and his coloration was a darker teal.

His other five Pokémon were Volcarona, Yanmega, Drapion, Volbeat, and Shuckle. From its name, I guessed that the six-winged moth was Volcarona. Volbeat was similarly assigned to the firefly-like bug. Shuckle didn't seem to fit the dragonfly or the scorpion, so the rock-like shell with a derpy face seemed best. Drapion seemed to describe the scorpion, leaving Yanmega as the giant dragonfly.

Aaron introduced me to each of them, confirming my guesses for each Pokémon, and gave me their names. Corona, the Volcarona, Vollord, the Volbeat, Snipe, the Drapion, Yanagram, the Yanmega, Shullusk, the Shuckle, and Inabirius, the Heracross. I didn't know if these were their public or private names, but I didn't ask.

The first part of the day was an exercise routine, one I developed after evaluating his overall fitness. While he was quite limber, he had little stamina, and that would affect his training greatly if he didn't attempt to raise it. One difficulty in that regard was that we only had so much time. Getting into shape took months—we could only do so much in the coming weeks.

After some stretches, Aaron would run through a number of exercises designed to pull on every muscle in the body. Then he would meditate and practice activating his aura, using its accelerated healing factor to his advantage. Then he would return to his exercises, rotating between exercise and meditation until he became tired enough to rest.

Meanwhile, I was running through a similar routine. Adam had always been meticulous about training the most efficient way possible, and had passed that onto me. I was working on four different aura techniques today: Phantom Force, Hidden Power, Shadow Claw, and the unnamed portal technique.

Part of my training was also to grow accustomed to weaponless combat. While I loved Gambol Shroud, I had grown too reliant on her. Perhaps part of that was due to the Goliath fight. I had been mostly ineffective—my strikes on the nape of its neck hadn't done more than scratch the behemoth. Grimm of that size needed a more powerful touch to do more than irritate them.

Or maybe the problem was the scale I was thinking on. Gambol Shroud was perfectly effective against the smaller Grimm and human opponents. But my mindset wasn't adjusted for combat against such giant beings.

Even still, there would be times when Gambol Shroud wouldn't be available; whether from damage or inaccessibility, I needed to be able to fight without her. And Shadow Claw was the perfect avenue for that.

One of the first things I had done with Future Blake was refine this technique. I had also adapted it for use on my feet, giving me four limbs to do damage with. This style wasn't dissimilar to my armed style, but my reach was significantly less than I was used to. That was where sparring against Gaheris had been crucial.

But before I asked for a spar, I wanted to work on Phantom Force. It took too long to use currently, so I would be working primarily to shorten the amount of time it took to summon up the energy.

So I spent most of the morning using Phantom Force. As I became more familiar with it, it became noticeably easier to use, but it still took over a second to charge up the energy necessary for it. But it was much better than the three seconds it used to be.

After a quick lunch, I asked Inabirius to a spar. He accepted, and Aaron and his team all deciding to watch.

I mentally pegged Inabirius at about the same level as Gaheris. While I entertained no hopes of winning, I wanted to test myself against a different opponent of approximately the same level. I also replayed Yang's match against Barry's Heracross to get an idea of what to expect, in terms of his general abilities, just kicked up a notch.

To start, I formed three small Hidden Powers, and launched them at Inabirius one at a time, testing his reflexes. Each flew faster than the last, but Inabirius dodged the first two casually and knocked the third into the ground. No more than I expected. I started charging a Phantom Force, waiting for his next move.

Inabirius took the opportunity and cloaked himself in white energy. Likely Swords Dance, which temporarily doubled his attacking power. Then he charged, horn glowing.

I activated my Semblance and Phantom Force simultaneously, reappearing behind the bug. I spun in the air, gaining as much momentum as I could as Inabirius turned around, and slashed him across the chest with Shadow Claw. Using my Semblance again to push myself upwards, I retreated, throwing an overpowered Hidden Power his way.

Inabirius dashed through my Hidden Power, shrugging it off, and engaged in close combat. I weaved my way through his strikes as best I could, but when his fist connected with my side, I went skidding across the floor. He didn't let up, creating several rocks in midair, smacking them at me full force. I barely had time to react, let alone dodge the incoming projectiles, but I met each rock with a Hidden Power, deflecting them into each other.

Standing up, I winced, glancing at my severely bruised left arm, and put it out of my mind. My instincts screamed, and I reflexively activated my Semblance, dodging down, Inabirius soaring above me. I lashed out with a Shadow Claw encased foot, catching him in the knee and sending him to the ground.

He stood up immediately, but I used the time to power up a Hidden Power, and landed a direct hit to his chest. There wasn't any to celebrate, so I charged, slashing again and again, using both my arms legs equally, but Inabirius was unfazed. He blocked each slash, until he regained control of the engagement, putting me on the defensive with a vicious leg swipe.

I threw my upper body to the left as I felt the strike connect, handstanding and landing on my feet. Only to face down Inabirius's massive horn.

I was thrown into the wall, and sagged to the ground. That last hit had done me in. Aaron declared Inabirius the winner, and the beetle walked over to me, helping me to my feet. He grinned, chittering about something, and I smiled back.

 _"That was well fought,"_ Aaron commented.

 _"Thanks, but you don't have to patronize me. How much was Inabirius holding back?"_

Aaron scrunched one eyebrow, thinking, and answered, _"He was hitting about half strength or so?"_ He glanced at Inabirius for confirmation, receiving it in a confident nod. _"Still, your form is excellent. Definitely upper Leader rank."_

 _"Leader rank?"_ I asked.

He briefly explained the skill ranks, ranging from Baby to Legendary. Most of his Pokémon were in the Elite rank, with a few of his newer Pokémon trailing in the Ace rank, like Vollord and Shullusk. Inabirius, Corona, and Snipe were all pushing towards Champion level, but Yanagram was content at her current level, though she still trained to upkeep it.

Before this, I hadn't really thought about the need for a ranking system, but it made quite a lot of sense. There was a lot you could convey by just saying "I'm low Battler 1" or "I'm high Ace level". It also helped put in perspective just how powerful the Elite Four were. If it took half strength for a high Elite rank like Inabirius to match a high Leader, then I had a long way to go. Especially in terms of facing down Goliaths. It had taken the cooperation of over 60 Ace and Elite level Pokémon to take down five. I shouldn't be worrying about it yet.

It also made me wonder just how much Gaheris had been holding back. While it had never seemed like he was pulling his punches, we usually wouldn't spar until after he had already sparred with Future Blake. Knowing her, she had likely pushed him just as hard as she did to me before sending him off to help me.

A thought occurred to me as I was resting. _"Aaron, is it possible to pass Baton Pass boosts to humans?"_

He seemed taken aback by the question, and thought for a moment before answering, _"I honestly hadn't thought about it before. I don't know."_ He called Vollord over and asked him what he thought about Baton Pass.

Vollord scratched his chin, and shrugged. _"Let's try a Tail Glow, then,"_ suggested Aaron.

At Aaron's command, Vollord's tail shone with bright green light. He focused, and the light popped, reappearing in his hand like a baton. I extended a hand, and grasped the shining construct.

All at once, my mind became clear. Startled, I tried forming a Hidden Power, and found that accessing my stores of aura was much easier, and the Hidden Power swelled in size, double – no – triple that of before. _"How long does this last?"_ I asked Aaron.

 _"It…uh, can really depend,"_ answered Aaron, seemingly distracted by something behind me. _"Usually between two to five minutes, half that when passed through Baton Pass. But it fades gently."_

With my newfound clarity of mind, I opened a portal to the other side of the room, using my outstretched hand as a focus, and leapt through. If there was one downside to my portals, I had to be the first thing through, otherwise it wouldn't connect to the other end. Aaron was momentarily taken aback, but when he realized what I had done, he blinked several times to make sure he was seeing correctly.

But he was still staring at whatever was behind me. I glanced around, but there wasn't anything in particular that he could be interested in. It was almost if he was looking at my bow.

 _"Blake, you do realize your bow is glowing, right?"_

Oh.

* * *

 **Yang vs. Tropius**

* * *

If there was one thing I could say about Beck, it was that he was dedicated. Whatever he put his mind to, he got done. His headstrong attitude made it easy to direct him, and he needed little supervision, leaving me to my own training. I wondered if his Ground-type innate typing contributed to that.

I already had ideas for various fire manipulation tricks that could help me, but I was mostly focused on practicing said fire manipulation. I needed to be able to control my flames at all times, and that meant sitting down and doing that. Probably the hardest part about fire manipulation is that it constantly needed to be fed with more aura. Weiss had a much easier time keeping her ice around, as it was a solid, but I didn't have that luxury.

My greatest asset in working on my fire techniques was Hosaki. With a constantly flaming crown, he was spectacular in demonstrating how fire worked. One of the biggest principles was how you needed to be careful in how much oxygen you used up. It was easy to go too far and make everyone unable to breathe, at least indoors. From that, I guessed that most Pokémon battles were outdoors, and the places that had indoor battling were large and had good ventilation.

All of Beck's Pokémon were training in some capacity around us, except for Camerupt. He was just lying on the floor, but I could feel a large heat aura surrounding him—probably building up his stores of lava. Banette was controlling bursts of lightning around him, Bellossom was battling against Venomoth, swirls of leaves being thrust against waves of psychic energy, and Tropius was firing blasts of multicolor energy at Mightyena, who was dodging every strike.

I had noticed that Tropius had a number of berries growing along her neck, and asked Beck about it.

 _"That's Tropius's ability, 'arvest,"_ he explained. _"A number of Grass-types 'ave that ability, which allows them to grow berries they ingest on their bodies. Quite useful, as they can then eat those berries during battle, if necessary."_

 _"Why would eating berries help?"_ I asked, a little confused. Eating stuff didn't seem like it would be any help during battle.

 _"A number of berries have special properties,"_ answered Beck. _"You see the berries growing on 'er right now? Those are called Sitrus Berries. And they give a large energy boost, enough that Tropius can keep battling for a while longer. It also invigorates 'er 'ealing and cell division, so if she takes a lot of damage, she can last longer. All she 'as to do is eat one."_

That was really cool. Berries that actively helped your body recover from injuries? _"What other kinds of berries are there?"_

Beck smiled, and continued. _"Well, there's the anti-type berries. There are 'bout seventeen of 'em, and when you eat 'em, attacks of that type aren't so effective any longer. It only lasts a short while, but some Pokémon are really weak to certain types. Take Tropius, for example. She's a Grass/Air type, so she really doesn't like the ice. But if she eats a Yache Berry, it's not so bad if she is hit by the ice."_

That sounded incredibly useful. Being able to tank damage of a certain type, especially if you were weak to it, went a long way towards victory. _"Then there's the status condition berries. Do you know what status conditions are?"_

I shook my head. _"That's alright. I can explain. There are five main ones, and they are debilitating in their own way. There's poison, burn, sleep, paralysis, and confusion. Poison and burn will both damage you over time, while paralysis will prevent you from moving. Sleep is self explanatory, and confusion will scramble your brain and sometimes cause moves to backfire."_

Then I recalled my first spar against Hosaki, when my body had locked up after he used the lightning move, and nodded along. _"I've been paralysis before."_

 _"Paralyzed, 'oney. So the status condition berries will fix you. There is one for each status condition, and one that fixes all of 'em—but that one takes just a little longer than the condition specific berry."_

 _"So you can use these berries in battle?"_ I asked.

 _"Each Pokémon is allowed one 'old item. So you can 'ave only one berry. Unless you've got 'arvest. Then the restriction is to one kind of berry."_

 _"What other kinds of hold items are there?"_

 _"There's a 'ole bunch. There are items that will boost your type damage, there are items that boost your overall damage, there are items that will give you more 'ealth, there are items that can negate a certain type, and even some items that will give your Pokémon a status condition."_

 _"Why would you want to do that?"_ That seemed completely counterintuitive.

 _"Some Pokémon 'ave abilities that activate when they 'ave a status condition,"_ explained Beck. _"Mightyena is one of 'em. 'is ability, Quick Feet, makes 'im go faster when he's been statused."_

 _"What kind of items do you use?"_

 _"Well, Tropius usually uses Sitrus Berries, and I like to stick a Black Sludge on Venomoth. Normally, when that item is used, it does damage to the Pokémon, because it's poisonous. But if you're a Poison-type, then it'll 'eal you. That way, if the opponent tries to swap items, 'e'll be punished for it."_

So there were moves that switch items. That was useful to know.

 _"But the item I'm most proud of is Banette's. Banette, come 'ere a sec."_ Banette hopped over, a questioning quirk in his eyes. _"I wanna show off your Mega form."_

Mega form? Whatever that was, I was going to find out. _"Do you know anything about Mega Evolution?"_ asked Beck.

 _"No,"_ I answered.

 _"Well, you're about to find out."_ Out of his front pocket, Beck pulled out a small metal case. Opening it, he pulled out a necklace, which he placed over Banette's neck. Inset into the necklace was a purple, black, and yellow colored stone. Then it started glowing.

An orange light filled the room, and Banette was enveloped in a sphere of said light. I covered my eyes until the light faded. Standing in front of me was Banette. But his form had changed. Taller and more menacing, Banette—Mega Banette—had large, reddish-purple claws and legs, and his headpiece had grown significantly. More zippers had appeared all over his body, but only a few were opened. And the most noticeable difference was in his presence. What it had been before paled in comparison to the sinister aura he emitted now.

I swallowed nervously—while Banette was a creepy Pokémon in general, now he felt downright unnatural. And yet, I could feel the bond between him and Beck—an actual, physical bond of emotion, powered by aura. That was what made this transformation so amazing.

"Woah." I was so impressed, I could hardly speak.

 _"Incredible, isn't it?"_ Beck said rhetorically. _"First time I saw a Mega Evolution, I was stunned, too."_

 _"What is it, exactly?"_ I asked.

 _"Mega Evolution the ultimate proof of a bond between a trainer and 'is Pokémon. You need a Mega Stone of the right kind, and a Key Stone. You can feel the difference, right?"_

I nodded. _"He's so much more powerful now."_

 _"It took a long time to get the Stones. I won the Key Stone in a tournament a while back, and I bought the Banettite off an ol' friend o' mine. Darn expensive, too."_

 _"Could I have a look at the stones?"_ I asked. _"I'll give them right back after I'm done."_

 _"I don't see why not,"_ he agreed amiably. I felt the link between them fade, and in another flash of orange light, Banette reverted to his non-mega form. He removed his necklace, and passed the Banettite over to me. Much like the one stone Weiss had found in the swamp, the stone gave off an aura I couldn't really describe. Briefly channeling aura into it, the Banettite rejected all of it, my aura just peeling off around it. Very odd.

Beck handed over his Key Stone, and I tried channeling my aura into it. It was almost frightening how receptive the stone was to my aura, as it empowered it and reached out for anything to latch onto. The Banettite resonated slightly with the signal coming from the Key Stone, but otherwise nothing happened. From the Key stone I could also feel two more signals resonating back at me. _"I can feel three signals,"_ I told him. _"Are there other Mega Stones here?"_

Beck nodded. _"Cynthia's got a Garchompite and Aaron's got a 'eracronite."_

 _"I don't think I can get anything else from them right now,"_ I said, handing back Banette his necklace and Beck his Key Stone. _"But I might ask Cynthia what's up with them."_

 _"I got a couple o' other items you might like,"_ said Beck. He fetched his bag and pulled out a small case. Unlatching it, he handed it to me. I opened it, and gasped. There was a small pile of sludge I assumed was the Black Sludge, and a poisonous purple orb I guessed could poison whoever touched it. It was wrapped carefully, so you couldn't accidentally touch it. But what drew my attention was the row of about twelve thumbnail sized gems.

Grabbing one, I asked, _"What are these?"_

 _"Those are type gems,"_ Beck answered. _"They give a pretty solid boost to one type o' move, but they wear out pretty quick, too. I really only use 'em in the real serious stuff, but they're worth it then. Can't remember 'ow many times they've saved my 'ide."_

There were three different colors of gems—a light tan, a bright orange-red, and a single faint pink gem. Most of the rest were the orange-red gems. _"Ground, Fire, and Fairy, right?"_ I guessed. _"Mind if I try out a Fire Gem?"_

 _"Go ahead,"_ he said.

I concentrated on my firebreathing technique, and drawing power from the Fire Gem, blasted it out. A veritable firestorm erupted from my mouth, clearing the room and bathing Camerupt in flames. I could feel the gem diminish in my hand, so I cut power from it. But one thing was clear. These gems could be invaluable in a fight.

I glanced down at the gem. Pulling out a round from Ember Celica, I poured the Burn Dust into my hand. Once again, I performed my firebreathing technique, and a similar blast of fire shot across the room. I looked from the gem to the remaining scraps of the Burn Dust. "Oh Dust."


	16. Volume 13: Gems

**Volume 13: Gems**

* * *

 **Ruby vs. Volbeat**

* * *

I focused on the air currents around me, feeling how they interacted with my body, how it flowed and swirled, and let my aura into the airstream. I felt how the air moved, how it waved and bounced and settled and ran. And then I gathered it to me, wrapping the air around my arms. With a metaphorical flap of my wings, I rose half a foot above the floor.

Yang burst into the room, breaking my concentration and I was sent tumbling to the floor. "Yang!" I exclaimed. "I was just in the middle of–"

"Ruby! You have got to see this!" she shouted back.

"What?" I grumbled. I hopped to my foot, and leaned back against Arcanine. Before he had left last night, I had asked him whether or not he wanted Arcanine back yet. He had just asked Arcanine who he wanted to stay with for the week, and when he had chosen me, Flint had just laughed and tasked me with taking care of him.

Palmer was in the corner, meditating on his aura. Most of his Pokémon were doing some sort of training, except for Milotic, who was playing with Slippers. Arcanine was still doing his job as makeshift transportation.

Yang thrust a small red gem into my hands. "This is a Fire Gem. It occurs naturally here, but it acts like Dust!"

"What?"

"Watch." Yang let out a small wisp of flame.

"That's with no Dust or Gem," she explained. "Here's what it looks like with the same amount of aura, but Dust enhanced."

A much larger amount of flames came out. I handed her back the gem, and she released one final blast of fire. It was even slightly bigger than the Dust-enhanced flame. "Woah," I said.

"Yeah, that's what I thought," said Yang.

Palmer was now paying attention. He noticed the gem in Yang's hand. _"_ _Is that a Fire Gem?"_

Yang nodded enthusiastically. _"_ _It boosts aura techniques. Do you have any?"_

 _"_ _I have a few on me,"_ said Palmer, _"_ _but only a couple."_

 _"_ _Whatever you have, just get them,"_ Yang told him. _"_ _This will help our training a lot."_

 _"_ _I've got a bit of spare cash,"_ Palmer said. _"_ _We could go and buy a few."_

 _"_ _Do it,"_ said Yang.

 _"_ _Any types in particular?"_

 _"_ _Fire, Air, Ice, Water, Ghost, Electric, and Poison. The others don't matter so much. Oh, and Ground._ Come on, Ruby, we have to go tell the others!"

She left the room in a hurry, and I sighed. I had almost flown, but then had come in and ruined my focus. Sure, she had made a great discovery, but couldn't it have waited five more minutes? I grumbled, climbing onto Arcanine and heading out after her.

I could Weiss exclaim something from in her room, so I went into Blake's. I opened the door, and saw Blake with her cat ears glowing. _"—_ faunus _. We're people with animal traits, but a lot of humans have oppressed us, so that's why I hide my heritage."_

I quietly closed the door, though I'm sure Blake heard me. About ten seconds later, Yang, Weiss, and Barry came rushing out of their room. "Did you tell Blake yet?" asked Yang.

"Not yet," I replied.

"Why not? Come on, let's go!" She made to open the door, but I blocked her.

"Her ears were glowing," I informed them.

"So?"

"Her other ears," I added.

"Why would her ears be glowing?" asked Weiss.

"I don't know!" I exclaimed. "They just were!"

"So do we just wait for her then?" wondered Yang.

"You could just knock," suggested Weiss.

"Knocking!" I agreed. Rapping on the door, I waited patiently above my loyal steed. Dog. Dogsteed. Does that still count?

Aaron opened the door. _"_ _Did you girls need something?"_

 _"_ _I'm here too!"_ exclaimed Barry.

 _"_ _I had a discovery I wanted to share,"_ said Yang. _"_ _Type Gems can be used like Dust."_

 _"_ _And Dust is…?"_ asked Aaron hesitantly.

 _"_ _A naturally occurring energy propellant that has elemental tendencies,"_ recited Weiss slowly, translating and modifying the phrase she knew by heart.

 _"_ _And this helps us how?"_

 _"_ _I'd show you, but Blake is…occupied right now, right?"_ Yang answered.

 _"_ _Yeah."_

 _"_ _Do you have any Type Gems on you?"_ she asked.

 _"_ _I got a couple."_

 _"_ _You can use them to boost your aura techniques, just like they do to a Pokémon's attack."_

Aaron blinked. _"_ _That sounds…incredibly useful. We just made a discovery of our own. Do you guys know what Baton Pass is?"_

Weiss tapped her cheek. _"_ _Isn't that the move that gives stat boots to other Pokémon?"_

Aaron nodded. _"_ _It works on us, too. Blake said that the Special Attack boost she got made her thinking a lot clearer and her aura usage way more efficient."_

 _"_ _I was thinking we should have a quick update meeting to discuss this,"_ said Yang.

Aaron glanced over his shoulder. _"_ _Uh, I guess that works. See you guys in five?"_

 _"_ _Great!"_ Yang smiled as Aaron closed the door.

 _"_ _What's up with Blake?"_ asked Barry.

I quickly glanced at Weiss and Yang. Weiss sighed. _"_ _She wanted to make the most of her thinking boost."_

 _"_ _Oh. Right."_

"Good thinking, Weiss!"

"Don't patronize me."

"We still need to get Cynthia," Yang reminded me.

"No need," she interjected. "I am here."

I turned around to see Palmer, Cynthia, Beck, and Jamie standing in the hallway. That's all of us. Then turned back to the door and knocked again. When Aaron opened the door, I told him, _"_ _We're ready now."_

 _"_ _Uh, great. Blake's still…"_

Weiss rescued him. _"_ _Still using the stat boost. She'll be out in a minute, right?"_

Aaron smiled gratefully. _"_ _Yeah."_

 _"So what exactly is this discovery you've made?"_ asked Jamie. _"_ _All I heard was something about Type Gems and Dust."_

 _"_ _Probably easiest if you come in here,"_ said Yang, directing them into her training room. After another demonstration of her firebreathing technique, Yang continued, saying, _"_ _That's what I wanted to show you."_

 _"_ _Impressive,"_ commented Aaron. _"_ _Blake and I also made a discovery. Stats boosted can be Baton Passed to us. She received a Tail Glow, and she said her mind cleared instantly and her control was far greater than before."_

 _"_ _If I remember correctly, we have four Pokémon here who can use Baton Pass,"_ said Cynthia: _"_ _Volbeat, Floatzel, Venomoth, and my Togekiss."_

 _"_ _The most useful stats to pass would be Special Attack and maybe Special Defense,"_ mused Palmer. _"_ _Floatzel can't pass either of those."_

 _"_ _Yanmega could boost up a bunch and then Volbeat could Baton Pass those boosts with Psych Up, just to start off with,"_ suggested Aaron.

 _"_ _Before we decide how to use the stat boosts, we also need to figure out how we're working the Type Gems,"_ reminded Palmer. _"_ _We all should have a few of our Hidden Power type."_

They kept talking about trading and buying Type Gems and a bunch of stuff I didn't care for, so I zoned out and started focusing on my aura again. But they finished talking before I could really start concentrating, so I just sighed and directed Arcanine back to the training room.

I think Aaron could sense my restlessness, so he came by to our room first with Volbeat. _"_ _Just a warning,"_ Aaron said, _"_ _Tail Glow will cause some part of your body to light up."_

Oh. That explained Blake's ears. Volbeat closed his eyes for a moment, until his butt light started shining. Then his entire body was cloaked in white energy that condensed into a baton right in front of me. His butt was no longer glowing.

I grabbed the baton, and immediately felt my mind start to churn. Everything was so clear, and accessing my aura was never easier. I wrapped it around myself, changing as much of it into air aura as I could. Then, it was a simple matter of directing that aura into a shape.

I'd discovered that Dragonite used an aura technique that pushed much more air into his wings, so he could make the most of each flap. But I didn't have wings. So then I had to choose between making my own wings, or using my arms as a basis.

I decided that using my arms was probably going to be easier, so I just padded them with some extra aura to make them more winglike, and pushed my air aura underneath. After a couple of experimental flaps, I made it off the ground. And crashed into the wall.

"Ow," I muttered as I clutched my head. It was at this point that I was realizing that the space indoors was far too small to practice flying in. _"_ _Palmer, I'm going outside."_

 _"_ _Don't be gone too long,"_ he said.

I climbed on Arcanine, and we exited the building. _"_ _Can you give me a running start?"_ I asked. Arcanine ruffled his neck and took off down the street. Carefully, I maneuvered into a position where I could leap into the air.

And then I did.

With a couple of large flaps, I rose into the wintry air, laughing and shouting and screaming and—most importantly of all—flying.

I started to notice that my mental acuity was fading, so I paid careful attention to how easy it was to keep my wings and use them, in addition to how far up I was. If there was one thing I didn't want to do, it was crash land.

I zoomed down close to Arcanine, who was still running down the street. I could see incredulous faces out on the street and kids pressed up against the windows as I flew down Main Street, so I waved back. _"_ _Race you!"_ I called down to Arcanine, who began to build speed almost immediately, barking joyfully.

I flapped my wings as hard as I could, but I could tell I was tiring fast. I was burning through aura, and I would have to stop soon.

Arcanine beat me to the edge of town, and I knew I had to land. I stopped flapping, instead flaring my metaphysical wings to brake speed, and dropped down onto Arcanine's back.

I had been flying for maybe thirty seconds. And it was one of the most awesome experiences in all my life. I love being a huntress.

* * *

 **Weiss vs. Froslass**

* * *

With Yang's discovery, Cynthia, Jamie, Barry, Yang, and I went down the street to the Poké Mart, where they sold all manner of Pokémon related merchandise. Poké Balls, Potions, Repels, and numerous other Held Items. We were only interested in the Type Gems. The shopkeeper immediately recognized Cynthia, and showed us to the Type Gem selection.

Snowpoint City was a rather remote location, so the selection wasn't impressive, but they carried at least a few of each type, with the exception of the Ice Gems. Unsurprising, due to the large amount of Ice-type Pokémon and trainers around. _"_ _Please remember that you are allowed five per customer, and only three of one type,"_ said the shopkeeper.

That gave us 25 to work with, in addition to the 31 we had already. Nine Fire Gems, four Ground Gems, four Water Gems, four Poison Gems, three Electric Gems, two Grass Gems, two Air Gems, and one of each of Fairy, Dragon, and Bug Gems. There were eight different innate types between the ten of us training—Ground, Air, Fire, Ice, Ghost, Electric, Poison, and Water. That cut out the Grass, Fairy, Dragon, and Bug Gems for now. In total that would give us 51 usable gems, with about five per person.

The three only of one type restricted our buying by too much, but we were able to convince him to let us get up to six of one type, provided we split our orders. So we decided to get six Ground Gems, six Air Gems, five Ice Gems, four Ghost Gems, two Electric Gems, and one of each Water and Poison Gems. That gave everyone but Ruby, Palmer, and Blake at least five Gems to work with.

As the clerk counted up our orders, I glanced over at the one of the showcases. I couldn't read the caption, but it was a collection of colorful stones of many different sizes and shapes, each giving off a unique aura. One stone stood out in particular. It was almost an exact replica of the stone I had found in the marsh.

I'd actually forgotten about it, but seeing the stone in the showcase had reminded me of it. I hadn't moved it at all, so it was probably still in my bag. I considered pulling it out to compare, but then Jamie noticed I was distracted, and came over. _"_ _Looking at the Evolutionary stones?"_

 _"_ _They feel incredible,"_ I told her.

 _"_ _I remember when I first used a Stone. My Mismagius, well, evolved using a Dusk Stone."_ She pointed to a dark purple stone with no other patterns or designs. It had a very ominous feeling emanating from it, which I assumed had to do with the Pokémon it could evolve.

 _"_ _Which one is that one?"_ I asked, pointing to the bright blue stone.

Jamie glanced at the stone. _"_ _That's a Dawn Stone,"_ she informed me. _"_ _They're probably the most interesting stone, because they will only evolve one gender of a species."_

 _"_ _Really?"_ That was…interesting.

 _"_ _Yup. And they have the fewest amount of known evolutions, as well. They will only evolve male Kirlia and female Snorunt."_

 _"_ _Snorunt?"_ I asked, immediately interested.

 _"_ _That's right, you have one, don't you?"_ said Jamie. _"_ _Is it a she? I could buy one for you, if you like."_

 _"_ _That won't be necessary, but thank you for the offer,"_ I refused. _"_ _I—I'll show you when we get out of the store."_

Cynthia and Barry finished up buying the Gems, and the five of us walked out just as a large gust of air blew down the street. I glanced down the street, only to sigh as I recognized Ruby speeding through the street.

 _"_ _Was that Ruby?"_ asked Barry.

 _"_ _Yes,"_ I replied, putting one hand on the side of my face. _"_ _Yes that was."_

We returned to the training facility, and I waited for Ruby to come back in. Sure enough, Arcanine burst through the doors, a windswept Ruby atop his back. "Ruby, what were you thinking?" I exclaimed.

I could see her eyes shining faintly—remnants of a Tail Glow, perhaps? "There wasn't enough space in the training room. So I went outside."

"You could have crashed into someone!" I continued. "You couldn't wait until we were at a better spot for it?"

"I had already built my wings," she retorted. "I had to use them fast. And…now I'm hungry."

"Of course you are." And here she went, dismissing my concerns without thought…again. Why did I even try?

 _"_ _I could use some lunch,"_ put in Yang. _"_ _Anyone else up for food?"_

 _"_ _I'm famished,"_ said Barry.

 _"_ _I'll go drop off the gems, and we can go to the cafeteria,"_ said Cynthia. She left.

Then Jamie turned to me. _"_ _So what did you want to show me?"_

I quickly rummaged in my bag, and retrieved the Dawn Stone. _"_ _This."_

Jamie took the stone from my outstretched hand. _"_ _I found it in the marsh eleven days ago. I put it in my bag and forgot about it."_

 _"_ _It certainly looks authentic,"_ said Jamie. _"_ _This is an incredible find. Most stones near the surface are scrounged up already. Are you going to use it?"_

 _"_ _That's up to Rush,"_ I replied.

 _"_ _That's the best way,"_ said Barry. _"_ _I bought a Shiny Stone for my Roselia months before she was ready for it, and just had it put away in a case until she wanted it."_

Just then, Cynthia returned. _"_ _Ah, you have a Dawn Stone. Did Jamie get it for you? I didn't see."_

 _"_ _Actually, I found it,"_ I corrected.

 _"_ _May I see?"_ Jamie quickly gave it to Cynthia, who looked it over once. _"_ _Quite a spectacular find. I'm sure your Snorunt will appreciate this one day."_

 _"_ _Thank you."_

After that, we ate. Barry and I returned to our training room once we were finished, ready to continue. Beck's Venomoth gave each of us a Quiver Dance boost, and I was pleased with the boost to my mental faculties. My aura also seemed to be strengthened, and I could move around much faster than normal.

For the next ten minutes, until the boost ran its course, I was a blizzard, whirling ice all around me and creating and destroying the various ice structures I created. I reforged my ice sword over and over, practicing until I felt like I was comfortable of using it in place of Myrtenaster in an actual battle. It still didn't have any Dust rounds available, but this was for if I ever lost Myrtenaster in battle, whether on accident or it was taken from me.

Barry was now starting to experiment on his own. With both the stat boosts and a Water Gem, he had created a small puddle of water he was practicing on manipulating. In just five minutes he had come a long way. Empoleon stood watch, giving him additional tips through gestures I didn't understand.

But all the while, I was distracted. Kain and Rush were both practicing in my midst, taking advantage of the cold and ice I created. I kept thinking of the Dawn Stone in my bag, but I was determined to make the most of my stat boosts. However, once I no longer felt like the stat boosts were helping me, I approached Rush.

 _"_ _Rush, I have something to show you,"_ I said. _"_ _I don't know exactly how this works, but you probably don't want to get too close."_

I revealed the Dawn Stone, and her eyes lit up. _"_ _This is a Dawn Stone,"_ I explained. _"_ _If you want, this will help you evolve. But only if you want to."_

Rush looked up at me, with tears in her eyes, and jumped into my arms. I rubbed the top of her head, laughing. _"_ _You silly girl."_

She drew back, glancing at the stone and then back to me questioningly. _"_ _If you want, go ahead."_

Rush smiled brilliantly, and tapped the stone with her head. White light emanated from her, covering her until her form started to change. Her body lengthened out, and a red fin jutted out from her back. Long sweeping arms grew out of her previously tiny hands, and two ice crystals appeared where ears might normally have.

All in all, she was beautiful. I stroked her face, and she giggled in return. She glided through the air back to Kain, who stared in awe. She poked his nose, and glided away. _"_ _Let's see what you can do,"_ I suggested.

Rush focused for a second, then blasted the wall with a large Icy Wind, far larger than anything she could have created before evolving. A second later, she followed it up with a collection of Ice Shards, rivaling Kain's prowess with the technique. Finally, she covered her head in a dark purple energy and rammed into one of the many ice targets I had created. It shattered, and she turned back to me.

 _"_ _Well done,"_ I congratulated her. _"_ _Y_ _ou are much more powerful now. And even more beautiful."_

She waved a hand at me, covering her face with the other hand. I patted her head. _"_ _Let's get back to training."_

* * *

 **Blake vs. Volcarona**

* * *

Aaron handed me the bag of Ghost Gems the other had bought. He had been very gracious after I had revealed my faunus nature, and Weiss had covered for me too. I would have to thank her later. It wasn't that I didn't trust these people with that knowledge, but I felt far more…exposed here. Revealing it to Cynthia had been a gut move, and I had shared it with Gaheris as well, but that was less problematic because he is a Pokémon.

But Aaron had taken the reveal well, and just accepted my wishes to keep it quiet. The Tail Glow had worn off, but I was ready to continue training. Aaron was practicing on his own, and had his own Tail Glow as well. His was entirely shining from his large strand of hair that stood up. If only mine hadn't been so revealing….

He wasn't using a Gem—probably a wise choice, considering his efforts to use his aura thus far had been mediocre. Still plenty advanced compared to the average person, but far from the average set by the group. In some ways, it wasn't surprising how quickly they were picking this up, given that they were expert Pokémon Trainers and dealt with aura techniques every day, but it was still amazing to watch.

But with his Tail Glow now boosting his aura, he was beginning to manifest it far better than before. I wondered what kind of a Semblance he would develop. While he was still far from that point, I was acting as a personal trainer, even though I had never done this before.

I still remembered the day I had activated my Semblance for the first time. Adam had unlocked my aura about a year earlier, and I was only now beginning to start really using it to enhance my prototype Gambol Shroud. We were breaking into an SDC compound to steal some critical data, and had a run in with four AK-85s. They had laid down suppressive fire down on us, and we were cornered. The only way out was through them. So Adam had used his own Semblance to create an opening, destroying one of the droids and I had followed, running as fast as I could.

I hated to admit it, but I had tripped on the way out. As I got to my feet, the droids had opened fire, and I threw everything into my aura, just wanting to get away. Instinctively, I created one of my clones and jumped off it to safety.

After the mission, Adam had congratulated me on discovering my Semblance, but how I had felt during its creation has haunted me to this day. That fear of being chased, of trying to run away from everything. It embodied everything I hated about myself.

Vollord floated beside me, as if asking me if I wanted another Tail Glow. I nodded, and tried to smile. He created the baton for me, and I grasped it. Once again, my mind felt like all distractions had been wiped away and all of my brainpower focused on one task. I reached for my aura, and created a portal to the other side of the room.

I concentrated on the way my aura moved, how it connected the two points, letting that memory sink in, ready to be called upon when I was ready to use it again later. After using the portal once, I rapidly phased through four Phantom Forces, using the Ghost Gem to help speed up the technique. Then, drawing almost all of the power from the crystal, I formed a multitude of Hidden Powers, aiming them at each other, and they exploded with more power than I had ever used before.

I coated my hands and feet with Shadow Claw, and flipped through a kata at max speed, swiping and slashing my way at an invisible opponent. After finish the routine, I noticed that my Tail Glow had begun to wear off.

 _"_ _Inabirius, do you want to have another go?"_ I asked.

The massive beetle smiled at me. _"_ _I'm thinking of a lighter spar this time,"_ I decided. _"_ _I just want to focus on practicing my technique against an actual opponent. You know how it is."_

He just nodded and settled into a stance. I lessened the output on my Shadow Claws for sustainability and charged. As I danced around him, launching several rapid attacks before moving elsewhere, he blocked and stayed defensive, though whenever he saw holes in my defense, he would take advantage of those.

As the spar wore on, I grew much more comfortable with my technique, even starting to divert aura to the limbs currently engaged from ones that were just supporting me, so much so that it soon became simple to activate or deactivate Shadow Claw with any of my limbs. We fought most of the afternoon, taking a couple of breaks for water and to cool down, before going at it again.

That was when Aaron suggested I switch to fighting with Corona. She wasn't much of a close range fighter, and I needed to work on my ranged combat, so I agreed. She started by demonstrating the three techniques I would have to dodge. The first was Hidden Power, a fairly standard move, which I had no problem avoiding. The second was a concentrated burst of light that moved quite quickly, but if I moved fast enough, wasn't especially hard to dodge.

The hard one was the occasional blast of flames she sent my way. She would fly all around the room, blasting me as I weaved through the attacks, launching my own Hidden Powers back at her. With such a fast moving target, I had to constantly adjust for her current speed, but prediction was tough. Corona was highly specialized in weaving through attacks, channeling small streams of fire from the end of her wings to perform split second dodges.

I tried my best to follow along, but she would never let me concentrate for long before blasting me. She was skilled enough to mix up the order of her techniques, and cheat the prep signals, faking me out on a Signal Beam, only to receive a Hidden Power or Flamethrower instead.

By the end of an hour, I was thoroughly exhausted. At that point, Aaron asked for help with his kata, and I led him through the basic form I had taught him yesterday. He picked up the movements quickly enough, but I was getting too tired to continue.

We were about to rejoin the rest of the group, but Aaron asked me to stay a minute longer. _"_ _What do you need?"_ I asked, perhaps a little grouchy.

 _"_ _I want to thank you for all the work you're putting into my training,"_ he said. _"_ _I wasn't sure what to get you at first, but then I remembered you don't have any Pokémon yet."_

Was…was he going to give me a Pokémon? I couldn't accept something like that. I was about to refuse, when Aaron reached into his bag and pulled out a large egg. I stared at it, noting the warmer it had been placed in, and marveled at the pattern.

While the Scyther egg had been fairly bland, mostly a mottled green, this egg was white on top and brown on the bottom. Five red spots decorated the white area, and two black lines encircled the brown bottom half.

 _"_ _I won't say which Pokémon will hatch from this, but I'm entrusting this egg to you. Once it hatches, I can teach you how to care for it."_

 _"_ _How long will it take to hatch?"_ I asked, still awed at the egg in the warmer.

 _"_ _Around a week or so,"_ answered Aaron.

 _"_ _I—I don't know what to say."_

 _"_ _Then don't,"_ said Aaron. _"_ _Just take it."_

Somehow my hands held firm as I took the egg from Aaron. He was entrusting into my care a living being. I was scared. But more than anything, I was humbled that he thought I was worthy to raise the egg of one of his Pokémon.

 _"_ _I would give you a guide for egg care, but I doubt you can read our language. Maybe I could–"_

 _"_ _I can read,"_ I interrupted him. _"_ _Not well yet, but I can do it."_

He just raised an eyebrow. _"_ _The more I get to know you, Blake, the more impressed I am."_ He handed me the guide, smiling gently. _"_ _So, thank you."_

I grinned back. _"_ _No, thank you."_

My team was all over the egg at supper, Ruby especially because of our prior experience with Slipper's hatching. Weiss just looked thoughtful. Yang was teasing that my time with Aaron had been 'fruitful' within just two days. I rolled my eyes at her antics, but I didn't deny his attractiveness. Instead, I replied, _"_ _Yang, he's right over there. I can introduce you if you like."_

That night was half goofing off with my team, half reading over the egg caring guide. It was actually quite helpful, as it gave some tips for when the egg hatched, though I had seen the whole imprinting process already with Slippers. I strongly suspected that Slippers would be quite the handful once she had full motor control, but Ruby was dedicated to caring for her. She would make sure to spend time with her every night, and slept with her outside her Poké Ball, just like she had done in the wilderness.

But the guide suggested staying as close to the egg to let it grow used to my presence. From within the egg, I could feel faint traces of an aura developing, which was both frightening and amazing.

Weiss also showed her off her newly evolved Froslass. It turned out the stone that Weiss had found in the marsh was an evolutionary stone, and it worked with Rush. A surprising coincidence, but I found myself not caring all that much. Rush's new appearance was quite dissonant from her attitude, as her formal grace belied her inner mischievousness. But she was ecstatic, and I wasn't about to rain on her parade.

Not that I approved of her pranks. So far she had iced my seat three times, and it was not as funny as Ruby and Yang would have you believe.

Still, night approached, and we had had a long day. I was exhausted, and we needed all the energy we could get for the next day. I glanced one final time at the egg before drifting off to sleep.

* * *

 **Yang vs. Bellossom**

* * *

The next three days I spent most of my time sparring with Hosaki. While he was certainly strong, he really needed to ground his style. I taught him a number of my own tricks, and he grew accustomed to extended spars quite quickly.

Of course, I wasn't about to slack in my own training, especially since I was lucky enough to have the most Type Gems of any of us. This, of course, meant that I learned most about what the differences between Dust and Type Gems were.

And they were different. The key difference was that Type Gems did not interact with Semblances whatsoever. Weiss and Blake had definitively shown this to be true, as they could not alter their Semblances in the usual way with Type Gems. Otherwise I found little else to be different, though I suspected that there were things I was missing.

As I was now our item expert, I was also given a number of other items to test their effectiveness. I first tested the Life Orb after hearing about its potent enhancing abilities. However, the drawback was quite intense. After using it once, I felt much more drained than usual, and though I had no scroll to gage my aura, I guessed that it was lowered by about ten percent.

Setting that aside, I also tested the Zoom Lens, the Wide Lens, the Quick Claw, the Shell Bell, and the Choice Specs. Both the Zoom Lens and Wide Lens had similar effects, making it much easier to aim for a target. The Quick Claw was weird, as it would give sudden boosts to my moves, and with its effect so random, I wasn't sure I would use it in battle, as it could be rather distracting. The Shell Bell was my favorite item, and it would recover some of the aura I used with any technique. Cynthia let me keep it, as she had a second one she could use for herself.

But the most interesting item was Palmer's Choice Specs. He normally had his Dragalge wear them, and when I put them on, I could see why. I could feel an amazing increase in my aura's efficiency. The downside was noticeable after the first technique, as my firebreathing shot across the room, I felt my aura lock up as soon as I tried to use anything else. I could keep shooting flames from my mouth, but I couldn't use my aura in other ways.

I took the spectacles off and gave them back to Palmer, saying, _"_ _Thanks, but no thanks."_

The final items I inspected were Aaron's Heracronite and Cynthia's Garchompite, and I made sure to watch their transformation myself. Both Mega Evolution forms were frightening, especially Garchomp's, as he was scary in his regular form. But as I inspected the Mega Stones and Key Stones, I compared them to both the Type Gems and what little Dust I had left.

As I had suspected, there seemed to be a tenuous connection between the material that the Mega Stones and the Type Gems were made out of, but I couldn't identify it, and likely wouldn't unless I had a look at the original dig sites.

The Key Stones were also weird in how they performed. They absorbed aura so easily, but they would only connect to the Mega Stones within the vicinity. I quickly learned the difference between the three stones, just from how their connection felt. Part of it was how each stone felt, but a major component was how well I knew the Pokémon in question. I knew Banette the best, but even then it was as a very casual acquaintance. I had barely met Garchomp and Heracross, so the stones felt…cold and distant.

It was on the morning of the fifth day of training that the portal disappeared. Cynthia had gently knocked on the door, and told us that it was gone. _"_ _We'll be leaving on a plane for Kalos this evening."_

Then she turned to Beck. _"_ _There is an extra seat for you if you wish to join us."_

 _"_ _Don't bother,"_ he replied. _"_ _I'll be staying here, concentrating on my own training. This is the most fun I've 'ad in a while."_

Cynthia smiled at him. _"_ _Thank you for joining us, then."_

She left. I also thanked Beck for bearing with me, but he just scoffed. _"_ _Girl, there is one thing you can do for me to give me your thanks. Battle me."_

 _"_ _What are the rules?"_ I asked.

 _"_ _Well, since you only 'ave one Pokémon, but you can fight as good as one, we'll 'ave a two on two. And since I already know you two fight, I'll give you the choice of who you fight."_

Out of his six team members, I didn't want to fight Banette. Ghost types were tricky, and I really didn't know how to handle them all that well. Add in his Mega Evolution, and that quickly eliminated him. Tropius, Bellossom, and Venomoth all were weak to my and Hosaki's fire typeness, but I didn't want to exploit typing too much, so I chose Bellossom, as she seemed like the easiest of the three to fight. Tropius had a great supply of Sitrus Berries to regenerate energy, while Venomoth had both Quiver Dance and Baton Pass. Too powerful to let onto the field.

Then it was between Camerupt and Mightyena. Camerupt had basically soloed a Goliath, but he was still quite weakened from that. Mightyena was going to be a fast opponent, and I would rather face down the powerhouse than the speedster.

My opponents thus chosen, Hosaki stepped out into battle against Camerupt. I wanted to start out with the difficult one and work my way easier, rather than the other way around. Hosaki and Camerupt took their places on the battlefield—we had moved to the open area for indoor battling—and the battle began. I had given Hosaki the Shell Bell for the match, as I would be using a single Fire Gem. Hosaki was battling first, as I couldn't give commands if I was unconscious.

Since this was happening just after lunch, Cynthia had volunteered to referee for us, as well as be a witness to the proceedings. For lawsuit purposes, I gathered. I didn't really care. Everyone else was watching in a partitioned off area for spectators.

I really wasn't experienced enough as a trainer to give Hosaki useful direction, so I mostly just gave him warnings about Camerupt's next move. This seemed to work out okay, though I could tell that Hosaki felt a little overwhelmed, as he had probably relied a great deal on Mitsumi's directions in battle.

Camerupt started the match off with a blast of lava from his front volcano. It was odd to think of a living being as volcanic, but Camerupt fit the bill perfectly. Hosaki backpedaled clear of the blast zone, and as soon as the technique finished, rushed with what I now knew to be a Mach Punch.

He smacked Camerupt in the face, but the volcanic cow just absorbed the blow and stomped on the ground, sending a wave of kinetic energy through the earth straight under Hosaki's feet. I wasn't able to warn Hosaki in time, so he was sent stumbling back, leaving Camerupt enough time to build up a mass of fire from his throat and blast it directly into Hosaki's face.

"Left!" I hurriedly cried, only realizing as Hosaki moved to the right that I had never taught him directions in Valic. Cursing my oversight, I could only watch as Hosaki stepped onto another Earth Power. _"_ _Right!"_

This time Hosaki leapt to the right, before spinning on his heels and landing another two Mach Punches. But he had to jump back to avoid the upward stream of stones Camerupt shot from the ground. Again, he tried to engage in close quarters combat, but Camerupt interrupted his punching routine with Stone Edges.

I tried to think of a way that Hosaki could win this fight. As hopeful as I was going into it, by now it was clear the difference in skill between the two opponents. I was only lasting this long because Beck allowed it.

I was proven right moments later when Camerupt once again erupted, catching Hosaki with a splatter of lava on his shoulder. No longer able to use that shoulder for the fight, Hosaki was pretty much done for. But I wasn't about to give up. _"_ _Flamethrower!"_ I ordered, and he blasted Camerupt with a stream of flames.

This too, was turned against me when Camerupt breathed out his own stream of flames, which quickly overpowered Hosaki's, and I ordered him to dodge left just before Camerupt's Flamethrower caught up to Hosaki. I had one last try.

 _"_ _Focus Blast!"_ I called out. Hosaki seemed to come to that conclusion a moment before me, and had already started charging up the technique. For all its power, this was the greatest drawback to it. Already a wave of kinetic energy was roiling towards Hosaki.

At the last second, I shouted, _"_ _Jump!"_

He did, firing the Focus Blast from midair, and the ball of energy smacked straight into Camerupt's face.

Another wave of kinetic energy took Hosaki by surprise before the smoke even cleared from his technique, and he fell unconscious.

 _"_ _A valiant effort,"_ said Cynthia, _"_ _but Camerupt is the victor of the match."_

I stepped out onto the battlefield myself, and faced down Camerupt. The cow was grinning, and I grinned back. This was going to be fun.

On Cynthia's signal, I charged forward, jumping over the Earth Power Camerupt had sent my way, and punched him straight in the face. I threw myself to the side, handstanding to retain momentum, and rushed in again, avoiding the Stone Edge that otherwise would have caught me. I activated my Semblance, just in case, and started channeling fire into my blows. Twice more I had to dodge a Stone Edge that might have cost me the match, but Camerupt had caught onto my pattern.

The fourth time he erupted, and I had to scramble backwards just to avoid the lava. None hit me, but now Camerupt had the advantage. He formed a large ball of mud with the earth beneath him, and hurled it at me.

I started running around behind him, but with Beck's careful calling, he almost landed a hit three times. But I could see what he was doing. So far, Camerupt hadn't moved an inch since the fight began. If he could take away my mobility with some mud, then he could just blast away at me.

So I charged him again, and smacked him on the top of his head, and he dropped the Mud Bomb before it could finish charging. This backfired on me, as the mud went flying everywhere, and I slipped.

Camerupt's flames were upon me before I even thought about dodging, so I put one hand up and felt my aura start to drain, protecting me from the vicious heat. So I grabbed my Fire Gem and breathed my own counterattack. I blasted against his blasts of fire, and drove it back until I could regain my footing.

But Camerupt was quite crafty, and sent another Earth Power my way, knocking me to the ground once more. Then he charged, moving for the first time. His entire frontside was covered in white energy, and I pulled on my Semblance as he threw me into the wall. He probably thought he had weakened me enough for a finisher.

But as my hair started to glow, showing off all the energy I had absorbed from the hit, I stood and faced Camerupt, who was now preparing an enormous blast of fire. I charged, punching through the blast of fire and dispersing it enough that I passed through the center relatively unharmed and slammed my foot into Camerupt's mouth. This time, instead of absorbing the hit, Camerupt went flying. Not far, as he was quite heavy, but enough that I could regroup and hit him again.

This time, I poured every last bit of energy from my Semblance into the hit, and smacked him into the wall. That finally did him in.

 _"_ _Winner, Yang Xiao Long. Beck, please send out your final Pokémon."_

Now I hoped to turn the tides against Bellossom. I was just a little tired from the first bout, but I was confident in my ability to take this next Pokémon down.

What didn't help was that Bellossom stood just over a foot tall. I wasn't used to fighting such miniscule opponents. But I didn't let that bother me. Instead, I took my fighting stance as Bellossom entered the field.

Her first move was to expel some kind of powder, which I stayed away from, breathing little wisps of flames at in the hopes that it was explosive. It wasn't, but it kept the powder away from me. So I took more from my Fire Gem and blasted her with a stream of fire.

She danced away, into a part where there was no powder, so I followed, intent on getting close. But then she blasted me with a ball of pink energy, and I went flying back. My Semblance was still active, so I absorbed much of the impact, but it still hurt. I could feel my connection to my aura slightly weaken, and that frightened me. But I couldn't let it bother me. I charged forward, covering my feet in flames, and kicked Bellossom across the field. Too late did I see the powder she was expelling behind her, and I felt my muscles begin to lock up.

But Bellossom had taken quite a bit of damage. Then, as I watched, she began to glow, and I could see the burn marks begin to fade. I quickly breathed more fire at her, but she just danced out of the way, sending another blast of pink light.

I tried to dodge, but my leg tightened up at the last second and the pink energy hit me head on. I was temporarily stunned, and green vines wrapped around me, and I felt my aura begin to drain. Recognizing it as the draining technique that Barry's Roserade had used against his Snorlax, I once again channeled the Fire Gem into my firebreathing, and encased Bellossom in flames.

The vines let go, and I stumbled forward, and tried to kick Bellossom away again, but I could feel my strength withering away. That was when Bellossom summoned up a tornado of leaves, and they tore into me.

The last thing I heard before falling unconscious was Cynthia's voice mumbling something unintelligible and the tinkling of Chimecho's bell.

* * *

 **A/N: Taking all guesses. Any and all guesses for the identity of Blake's new egg!**


	17. Interlude 4: Charon

**Interlude 4: Charon**

I examined my machine once more. If my predictions were right, I would be receiving a signal within the next ten minutes. Finally, I would be able to take matters into my own hands. I wouldn't have to rely on anyone else to accomplish my goals for me. Cyrus had been a blessing, but ultimately, he had failed at the last moment. And we had been so close too.

I adjusted my spectacles and sighed. Cyrus's vision for a new, perfect universe had been enticing, but he hadn't gone far enough. He was blinded by his own vision, and thus caught unawares by both Cynthia and Giratina. Either could have been dealt with alone, but together they had caused havoc enough that I had decided to retreat, taking as much of the equipment as I could. I'd also managed to convince a few of my subordinates to stay with me, in the hopes of one day finding Cyrus again.

All a lie, of course, but those stupid enough to be caught in his charisma weren't worth wasting my breath to educate. Stark Mountain had proved an excellent hiding place, at least until now.

With all the power Dialga and Palkia had been throwing around, trying to acquiesce to Cyrus's wishes, there had been a great disturbance in the dimensional space around us. I had many monitors regarding this, and I was therefore unsurprised when I found evidence of a stabilizing portal being formed. Whether Arceus himself had stepped down to fix his creation or not, I had kept an eye on it.

Until another portal had formed on Iron Island. Immediately intrigued, I built a few more sensors to monitor the situation, but there was little I could do from within the volcano. At that time, Saturn had contacted me, letting me know that while he and Jupiter had escaped as well, Mars had been captured along with a large number of the rank and file. I held no desire to continue working with Team Galactic for long, despite their many advantages. For one, this had been a simple experiment to see whether or not dimensional travel might be possible. I had never had the resources before to instigate such an experiment, but now I was sure that it could be done. Manipulating Cyrus had been…delicate, but I had handled it well, pushing him towards the final move.

It had fallen through, like I expected, but my eagerness to the cause had been overexaggerated, and there was little I could do to change that now, so it was far wiser to play along until I had no further use for the organization. So when Saturn had called, I had played my part beautifully, making sure to mention that I was watching over the fallout between dimensions and seeing what could be done to rescue Cyrus.

Once again, utter lies, but Saturn had been thankful, and had ordered me to stay put. Ordered! As if he was now in charge of Team Galactic in Cyrus's absence. Nevertheless, I had stayed in touch.

My fortunes increased when the portal had opened up near Snowpoint. It was child's play to deduce where the next portals would appear based on that. One near the Battle Frontier, one in the depths of Route 212, and another not far from Oreburgh. Whether or not a final portal would reappear within Mt. Coronet mattered little—I had my chance.

I had informed Saturn of my travel plans to set up near the Battle Frontier, citing a possible lead to Cyrus's whereabouts. He had instantly granted my request—as if I needed to ask permission.

That had led to today. My predictions were more imprecise at this range, but somewhere within the surrounding kilometers the next portal would appear.

The next few minutes were a tense waiting game, as I had endeavored to get as close to the portal as I could before settling down. Even then, much of our equipment was still unpacked so we could move ourselves closer to the portal and construct the dome overtop of it. One of the benefits of having a powerful Ground type like Swampert. Selmar also had Ice Beam to help construct it, using it as a replacement for windows.

I fiddled with the locket around my neck, sighing. The readings began to spike, and I took a deep breath, anticipating my success. And then a blip on the radar, confirming the location to be about four hundred meters to the south. Perfect. I unclenched my hand from around the locket.

"Howard and Gerald, you know what to do." They were the strongest of my subordinates, so sending them out on the scouting mission was for the best. "Investigate the other side of the portal, and report back after twenty minutes, if possible. If you encounter any locals, remain passive unless they threaten you themselves."

"Yes sir," they replied.

"Good. We'll send another party after you if you do not return after six hours."

"You won't have to," Howard answered confidently. Then the two of them left, and I busied myself with other things. Already I was gleaning much more from the portal than I ever could have with the other three. The portals had been stable thus far, barring one incident where the Snowpoint portal had disappeared. That had been a scary two hours, until it reappeared.

They returned two hours later. I decided to reprimand them after their report, just in case. "Sir, the area appears to be largely forested, but there was a large mountain range to the southeast. We couldn't detect any signs of life in the area, so we explored the surrounding area, and didn't find anything conclusive to human life. We did find some large tracks, possibly from a large Ursaring, and took a number of plant samples."

"And that took you two hours?" I asked testily.

"What are you talking about, sir? We were gone for twenty minutes, just like you ordered."

I pointed to my watch. "Two hours passed while you were on the other side of the portal, gentlemen."

Howard pulled out his own watch and showed it to me. "See? Only twenty minutes passed."

Then I had a thought. Palkia had caused there to be much special distortion, but Dialga had also been involved in the incident. Perhaps there was a time distortion as well? "So there appeared to be no harmful effects?"

Gerald shook his head. "Not at all. We can send a larger party through to look for Master Cyrus now."

I shook my head. "I need to figure out what is happening with the time difference first. Howard, you'll be accompanying me for this trip."

He nodded, and I quickly prepared myself for the mission. Gerald had already handed over the plant samples, which Teresa was already analyzing. I momentarily glanced at them, and didn't recognize any of the specimens. They had come from another dimension, so plant life was bound to be different. But that did raise the question both about human and Pokémon inhabitation. Would there be any intelligent life on that planet?

In the end, it didn't really matter. As long as I could get enough data to replicate the effect, then I could truly begin my search.

I left Selmar behind to start working on the new shelter, and stepped through the portal. A strange sensation, to be sure, but I quickly recovered my wits, and evaluated my surroundings. Howard had described the place quite succinctly, but it was always preferable to make personal observations where possible.

We stood overlooking much of the forest about a third of the way up the mountainside. I could see some evidence of a larger lake some distance to the north. At least, the north pole of this planet. The compass seemed to function normally, but I had no way of knowing what orientation the planet rotated on. It likely didn't mean much in the long run.

I didn't want to spend much time here, as there was a highly likelihood of time shenanigans, and I wanted to be separate from that as much as possible. I gave myself seven minutes. If my calculations were correct, that would mean approximately forty minutes would pass on the other side. I sent out Sheila, my Golbat, and had her take a look around, setting about myself to see what this place was like.

I had Howard take a few more plant samples, as the flora in this forest were of interest to me, and I requested that he gather as many seed-like objects as he could, to see whether or not they could be grown in the lab.

Sheila returned a minute later, clicking incessantly about something. I followed after her, eager to see what she had found. A large bear-like creature lumbered into view, completely black bar the white mask and red eyes on its face. "Excellent work, Sheila," I said.

She screeched back at me, and I watched the creature's mannerisms. It definitely was wary of me—no, Sheila. Its eyes were following Sheila. "Let's see what this creature is like! Sheila, Air Slash," I ordered.

Sheila responded by sending a disk of energy at the creature, which tore at its side. That looked like a critical injury. Too much power, then. But all this seemed to do was enrage the bear, and it charged Sheila, who dodged its clumsy swipes. Then I realized it had separated her from me.

As it turned to face me, I sent out my trusty Rotom, Miller. "Thunder Wave!" I commanded.

Miller shocked the bear with a jolt of electricity, and sent the bear to its knees. I grabbed an empty Poké Ball and tossed it at the bear.

The Poké Ball bounced off of the bear, activating, but nothing happened. The bear tried to get to its feet, but Miller jolted it with a Thundershock to keep it down. "Howard!" I called.

He came running up to me, and I told him, "Have your Machoke take this back to base. Poké Balls don't seem to work on it, and I would like to study it. Have Selmar construct a cage for it as well. The creature seems to operate at a low Battler 1 level."

Howard nodded, and Machoke soon carried the creature back through the portal. I checked my watch, noting that six minutes had passed. Deciding that was close enough, I followed Howard back through the portal.

With a glance at the clock on the wall, comparing it to my watch, my suspicions about the time dilation were confirmed. My watch was off by about thirty minutes, meaning that time roughly passed six times faster on the other side.

That's when the true start of the operation began. Unloading the rest of the gear from the trucks, setting up laboratory safe conditions to evaluate all manner of evidence from the other side of the portal. Howard and Gerald rotated duty watching the portal, just in case anyone were to happen upon the portal—I was greatly interested in making contact with the locals, if they existed.

But as Firenzo analyzed the bear creature, dubbed Kuroguma, he discovered its strange mannerisms. First of all, it utterly refused to eat anything set before it. No matter what it was, the Kuroguma refused to touch any of it. Firenzo even tried setting some berries—found on the other side—before it, but that didn't make any difference. And whenever anyone would walk in there, it would growl and make aggressive stances, even trying to escape several times. Firenzo's Pachirisu stopped any attempts from succeeding, but its behavior was worrying.

Then, after about a day in captivity, the Kuroguma dissolved completely. While it hadn't eaten, the Kuroguma presumably had enough substance to last several more days. It was baffling beyond all measure. I was hesitant to send Howard to capture another specimen, partly because of the end result of our previous experiment.

Firenzo confided to me privately that he didn't believe that any intelligent life existed on the other planet, besides the masked creatures. He hypothesized that there were a great many of those creatures of many kinds, much more powerful than the Kuroguma, and they had wiped out humanity. I had my doubts, but it was a concerning theory. All the reason to focus on my efforts on the new machine. With all my tools on hand, I was able to delve into the mysteries that the portal held and create my own. I worked feverously, and created a prototype within 18 hours—record time.

I activated the machine from a safe distance, and watched as the machine took much of the power generated by our three Electabuzz and broke through a weak point in the spacetime continuum, and reaching through to nearby coordinates on the other world. Howard and Teresa were waiting on the other side of the portal, with several objects they would test sending through.

The first item was a stone, and it passed through without any noticeable flaws or defects. Next, a log was passed through, and once again no discernable damage had been done. Third, we passed through a Pecha Berry, which successfully cured one of our many Bidoof from Sheila's Toxic. Finally, we sent another Bidoof through, and watched it for half an hour.

There weren't any side effects, so the test was determined a success. That was when I received a ping from one of my dimensional reader machines, telling me that another portal had been opened up nearby.

Immediately, I made a more thorough scan with my devices, and found that the portal had disappeared. But I was worried. Something was trying to watch us, and I wasn't sure I wanted to find out who or what that was. And I trusted my machines not to malfunction, especially with this kind of activity.

Testing continued with our prototype, and we soon were able to open a portal to the mainland, discreetly placed near Saturn's current hideout. Howard carried a message to him, reporting on our success. Saturn was greatly pleased, and insisted on visiting. Once again, I received a message from my most sensitive device, noting that spacetime had once again been distorted around Saturn's previous location.

That I kept secret from him, if only to prevent him from panicking. Someone was tracking us down with far superior equipment, and I wasn't sure I would be able to develop my machine fast enough. For now, they were content to just watch from afar, but when the time came for a confrontation, I wanted to have the best on my side.

I bemoaned the timing of the portals. Had I another week, I would have had Heatran within my grasp as a power piece, held in place by the remnants of the Red Chains that I had salvaged. But there was little I could do about it. Still, the Red Chain was usable, if a situation ever required it. Perhaps once I could accurately pinpoint Heatran's location, I could capture him with the Red Chain.

Plans for another day. For now, the portal technology development was far more pressing. Over the next two days, I picked up seven more uses of the portals, but was never able to discover the whereabouts of the portal or the portalmaker. During that time, the portal near Snowpoint also closed.

I was sure that it was a portal of some sort and not any of the teleportation techniques used by Psychic Pokémon nor the rare Phantom Force attack Ghost-types could use, as they had distinct patterns that gave a much different and lesser signal. Unfortunately, the device that could actually track these portals was quite limited in its range, only covering about a 30 kilometer radius.

By the end of the second day, I was getting paranoid enough that I had Miller and Gregorious, my Gastly, follow me around. Gregorious loved to hang in my shadow, keeping him hidden from sight.

It was after the evening meal when our interloper finally decided to make an appearance. Face covered in a mask—similar to that of the Kuroguma—with feathery black hair falling down her back. A red shirt and black skirt were dismissed for the sword hanging at her side. Again, my eyes were drawn to the mask and the four eyes boring into my soul. Her presence was staggeringly powerful, oppressing everything around us.

"Who are you?" I demanded. "Why have you been investigating us?"

In lieu of answering, she pointed to the portal device, and nodded once.

"Are you from the other world?" I asked. "Are you scared that we're coming to invade?"

The woman nodded, then shook her head. Yes to the first, no to the second. I could work with this. "Let me assure you, this research is purely academic," I said, trying to placate her.

"Lie." She said it with such conviction that I had to swallow. This woman was powerful. Her presence—overwhelming. It was hard to think clearly, but I needed all of my wits about me if I was going to survive this encounter. The presence of her sword clearly indicated some level of competence, and though I saw no Poké Balls, if Firenzo's hypothesis was correct, then she might be a fighter of great renown, sent as an ambassador.

That didn't explain the numerous portals, though. But I didn't have time to think. "Well," I continued, "not that there aren't many applications for portal technology. Perhaps this might be a chance for us to begin interdimensional relations?"

She didn't reply again, and my mind started to wonder why. There was, of course, the intimidation factor she held, but I was wondering how she was even understanding me in the first place. There was no reason to expect her people to speak the same language. An odd curiosity. Perhaps that had been the purpose of the portals? To get data on our language?

"If you don't mind me asking, do your people speak the language I am speaking now?"

"No." It hadn't been as noticeable with her first sentence, but her tone was odd. With her answer, she was likely only speaking to me with barebones knowledge of our language. It would be impressive, if it wasn't also just as terrifying. I had no idea how much she knew, or what she knew, or how she knew it. The portals could be placed anywhere, and she could have received any amount of information on Team Galactic at any time.

"Would you like any refresh—anything to eat or drink?" I corrected myself midway through the sentence. She likely wouldn't know the word.

"No."

"Is there anything you can tell me about your purpose here?" She remained silent. I cursed internally. This was not going well. I probably hadn't made the best first impression, and this was turning south fast. I needed some way to turn this around.

But then the woman turned around, drawing her sword and slashing it in midair. Before my eyes the portal formed. "Wait!" I called after her. "Will you at least tell me your name?"

The four eyes of the mask stared into mine, and for a moment, I thought she was going to attack. But she simply sheathed her sword and stepped through the swirling mass of crimson, disappearing.

What a terrifying encounter. I needed to prepare for our next meeting. She was sure to come back, likely with knowledge I couldn't keep from her about my previous activities. If she took offence to any of them, I would likely die.

But most importantly of all, as far as I could tell, that woman had _created_ the portals she used. No machine, no assistance—she could simply create the portal, as if she were a Pokémon using a move. That was beyond terrifying. I had no defense against portals like that, and if she were to decide that I no longer needed to live, I would die near instantly. I was thankful that my machines were able to detect her portals, but that was hardly warning enough if she wanted to kill me.

I could try to track her coordinates, but I had the feeling that would backlash almost immediately. She had some ability to sense when portals were being created, as one of her portals had appeared just after we made a new portal. I needed some way to stop her if she tried anything.

"Who was that woman?" asked Teresa.

"The most dangerous woman I have ever met," I replied truthfully. How on earth could I stop something like her? If anything, her presence resembled that of a lesser Legendary Pokémon!

I stopped short, having a terrible, horrible idea. "What is it?"

I looked Teresa in the eye. "I think I have a way to deal with her."


	18. Volume 14: Travels

**Volume 14: Travels**

* * *

 **Ruby vs. Lanturn**

* * *

Chimecho quickly healed Yang, and then we all returned to our training rooms for the last time. Without the portal to keep an eye on, it was time to go to Kalos. Flint had booked us an airplane, something that resembled an airship, but had a weird shape, to get us there.

After supper, we said our goodbyes to Beck and Jamie, as they had decided not to follow us to Kalos, and boarded the plane in Eterna City, which was south outside of the snow. The weather was never good for planes to take off from Snowpoint, so we once again teleported with Rowan's Alakazam, and they saw us off from there. I was curious why we needed to take a plane, when we could just teleport.

Palmer then explained that Kalos was on the other side of the world, and it was difficult to teleport internationally, especially to places like Kalos and Unova. I didn't really care all that much, but it was still interesting.

Yang slept for most of the plane trip, but I was too excited to settle down. "Besides," I told Weiss, "It'll be night over there when we get there."

I made sure to take a window seat, but we took off into the clouds, and I watched in awe at the expanse of sky. I couldn't see any land or sea beneath us, we were so high up. It was kind of scary, but totally cool. I asked Palmer, who was sitting behind me, if there were any Pokémon that lived in the clouds.

 _"_ _Well, legends say that Rayquaza lives up in the ozone layer, but no one has ever seen Rayquaza, and there aren't any Pokémon that live up here normally."_

I was a little disappointed, but I didn't let it bother me. What did bother me was that Pokémon weren't allowed outside of their Poké Balls on the plane, so I couldn't play with Slippers at all. That also meant that Hosaki was in the back of the plane along with a few other Pokémon with more conventional restraints. I did, however, have a sketchbook, where I sketched ideas for the wings I would build. Flying was too taxing to use for long, and if I had actual wings instead of aura wings, I could conceivably reduce the strain to a much more sustainable level.

All in all, the flight took twelve hours, and upon landing at Ambrette Town, we—deboarded?—the plane and went to the local Pokémon Center. That was when we discovered that the Kalosians spoke a different language than the Sinnohese did. Yang got a little excited, but I just sighed. All that effort into learning Sinnohese, and it wasn't one bit helpful here.

On the way, I looked at all the buildings, but for the most part, the town was pretty small. The airfield looked new, and it had been built near the beach, because the area was so mountainous. One of the buildings drew my eye because of its large round shape. _"_ _What's that?"_ I asked Palmer.

 _"_ _That's the Ambrette Aquarium,"_ answered Palmer. _"_ _It's world famous for its collection of aquatic Pokémon."_

 _"_ _Can we go?"_ I pleaded.

 _"_ _We'll have some time tomorrow. It's too late to visit today anyway."_

Inside the Pokémon Center, I saw a number of Pokémon I had never seen before. First was a large rocky flat Pokémon with a horn on its head. The second was a lion-like Pokémon with a streamer of hair running down its back. And the last one was a tiny Pokémon that was riding on a red flower, hovering in midair. I had to use a wheelchair for the plane ride, but now that I was out in the open, I was using Arcanine to ride around. Flying everywhere just wasn't feasible at the moment, because of how much aura it took. By now I was starting to get pretty tired, so I appreciated the rest.

But I was up early the next morning, and so were Palmer and Aaron. The three of us ate breakfast while we waited for the rest of the gang to wake up. Eventually, we all gathered near the front of the Pokémon Center.

 _"_ _Gurkinn said he would meet us in front of the Pokémon Center at 12:30 today,"_ said Cynthia. _"_ _It's now about 8:45. We can just explore the town, if you like."_

 _"_ _I want to go to the aquarium!"_ I exclaimed.

 _"_ _Wasn't there some talk of a fossil museum here?"_ said Weiss.

 _"_ _We can visit the aquarium first, then go to the museum,"_ I decided. We all agreed this was a good plan, so we set out for the aquarium. The attendants were hesitant to let Arcanine into the building because of his size, but when they saw my missing leg, they immediately withdrew their complaints. At least, that's what I could understand from the gestures they were using.

The inside of the aquarium was amazing. They had five different tanks set up, each with a different kind of Pokémon in them. The first tank was pretty small compared to the other four, as there were only a few different species of Pokémon. But this tank was special, Palmer explained.

 _"_ _All of these Pokémon were extinct, until modern technology revived them from the fossils they left behind. There are small breeding populations that have been established, but these Pokémon are still very rare."_

There were four different species of fossil Pokémon in the tank—Omanyte, Kabuto, Anorith, and Tirtouga. Out of all of them, I liked the Kabuto the best. Its shiny little eyes were so cute as it scuttled along the tank floor. Weiss seemed enamored by the Tirtouga, but I still liked the Kabuto more.

The next tank was the biggest, and it held everything from Alomamola to Jellicent to Seadra and more. I particularly liked the three Seadra that grouped together, seemingly strutting as they went about their swimming. Weiss pointed out a Prinplup to me, telling me that it was Empoleon's pre-evolved form. I went back to looking at the Seadra as they faced down a Tentacool and its mother Tentacruel. Behind the Seadra were four cute little Horsea. For a tense moment, it looked like a fight might break out, but then a Luvdisc swam in between them, and the Tentacruel and Tentacool took the opportunity to pass by the Seadra and Horsea.

All the while Blake was looking up Pokémon in Barry's Pokédex silently. I wondered what she thought of the aquarium, but I didn't want to ask. After the main tank, we went on to see the deep sea dwellers, going into a cool darkened room, and watched the Pokémon glow. I particularly liked the Lanturn that floated up next to me, its little light glowing brightly.

Palmer pointed out a Clampearl hidden near a rock, and a Huntail swam by a moment later. There was also a small whale Pokémon that I noticed, and I pointed it out to Blake. She looked it up in the Pokédex, and found that it was called Wailmer, and would evolve into a giant Wailord. I wanted to see one. Then she added that she thought they didn't have one here because it was too big, and I sighed in disappointment.

The fourth tank was set up similarly to the second one, but it also had some of the more aggressive Water Pokémon, like Sharpedo and Basculin. I noticed that there was a Dragalge and a couple of Skrelp, and pointed them out to Palmer. He nodded, and told me that the Dragalge was probably the most dangerous Pokémon in the tank, even though the Sharpedo was far more aggressive. I believed him. Dragalge was part Poison-type, and its poison was deadly.

The final tank was special because they had a number of Pokémon you could pet. I could see that Blake was hesitant to participate, but I encouraged her to have fun. My favorite Pokémon to pet was the Dratini they had. It was funny to think that such a cutie would evolve into such a quirky looking Pokémon like Dragonite, but I just enjoyed stroking it.

After that, we went to the fossil museum. There were a number of fossils of the Pokémon we saw in the aquarium, and it was sad to see them preserved like this. Weiss was drawn to a collection of fossils that had been propped up to resemble a real life herd of Aurorus and Amaura. It was quite picturesque, but I moved on to the painting an artist had done depicting the herd. I liked the way they looked, and I was sad for them again.

But Yang cheered me up, saying, "They already had their time, Ruby. We can honor that by admiring them as they are now."

We were going to go down one hall, but it was partitioned off for a special archeology conference or something. I wasn't exactly sure—I couldn't read. But they didn't want to be disturbed. A staff member was there to guide people away.

We were just turning back when we heard loud voices coming from inside the room the conference was in. _"_ _Is there something going on in there?"_ asked Palmer.

There were more angry shouts. _"_ _I'm sure it's nothing,"_ said the staff person.

The shouting continued, and there was a loud bang. _"_ _That doesn't sound like nothing,"_ said Cynthia. _"_ _Would you please let us through?"_

The man looked sort of worried. _"_ _I don't have the authority to let in uninvited guests."_

Cynthia smiled at him dangerously. _"_ _Are you turning away the Champion of the Sinnoh region?"_

The man hesitated, before letting her through. _"_ _But only her,"_ he warned. _"_ _I don't want to get in trouble for this."_

Aaron then pulled out his Poké Gear and answered the call from Cynthia. She had just slipped inside. Unfortunately, they were speaking in Kalosian, so my team and I couldn't understand, but Palmer started whispering what they were saying.

 _"…_ _Team Flare is quite interested in the Genesect project,"_ Palmer translated, looking worried as he did so. _"_ _If you will only follow our demands, then you will come to no harm."_

Then Cynthia's voice came over loud and clear, and in Sinnohese. _"_ _I think I've heard enough. Team Flare, you are under arrest for threats of kidnapping, thievery, and extortion. Surrender peacefully, and you will come to no harm."_

There were many cries of _"_ _It's Cynthia!"_ or _"_ _The Champion of Sinnoh?"_ and _"_ _What is she doing here?"_

We decided not to wait any longer, and rushed into the room just as a large volume of smoke obscured the area. I started coughing, but I concentrated and started controlling the air currents, clearing the smoke as fast as I could. But it was too late by then. Whoever had been part of Team Flare was no longer anywhere in the vicinity.

* * *

 **Weiss vs. Amaura**

* * *

After the events of the Team Flare break in, the director of the conference came over to us and thanked Cynthia for interrupting when she did.

 _"_ _We at the Kalosian Archeological Society thank you for stepping in when you did. That woman was clearly insane. Who knows what she might have done if we had tried to resist."_ Palmer was translating for us all again.

 _"_ _It was no problem, director,"_ replied Cynthia smoothly. _"_ _I am glad I was able to help."_

 _"_ _Now who are these strapping young trainers?"_ he asked, switching to Sinnohese. _"_ _Trainees of yours?"_

 _"_ _For the time being,"_ answered Cynthia. _"_ _In fact, if they were not accompanying us, we would not have come here today. They have never been to Kalos before."_

I noticed that Barry wanted to protest the claim, but his father just placed his hand on his shoulder to calm him down.

 _"_ _How fortuitous,"_ exclaimed the director. _"_ _I hope that the rest of your stay here is not as exciting as this."_

 _"_ _The fossil collection here is amazing,"_ I told him. _"_ _When I heard of the museum, I knew I had to come here."_

 _"_ _Don't flatter me,"_ said the director. _"_ _But you can thank many of the scientists here today for their discoveries."_

Just then, another staff member came running up. Speaking in Kalosian, he hurriedly gestured for the director to follow him.

 _"_ _If you'll pardon me, I must be going. Once again, thank you all for coming today."_ Then the director rushed off.

 _"_ _What's happening?"_ whispered Ruby.

 _"_ _It seems like there was a break in at their labs as well,"_ answered Palmer. _"_ _He mentioned something about the reviving machine."_

Reviving machine? _"_ _Would that be the machine that revives fossils?"_ I asked.

 _"_ _Quite possibly,"_ he replied. _"_ _But that's not our problem now, is it?"_

 _"_ _Are there any more exhibits?"_ asked Blake.

 _"_ _Well, we haven't looked at the old reviving machine yet,"_ said Aaron. _"_ _That's always fun to look at."_

The exhibit was quite impressive, as it detailed the process of first finding fossils, then how they prepared the fossils for reviving, and finally the reviving process. Palmer read aloud the inscriptions, which were in three languages, and I paid careful attention to what he said.

One of the more interesting facts was that there was a fossil dig not far outside the city within Glittering Cave. Many species of fossils could be found there, and there was another such deposit nearer the ocean, where fossils of the underwater Pokémon were found.

Just as we were about finished admiring the exhibit, the director came running up to us once more. _"_ _Splendid. You haven't left yet."_ He huffed for a moment, catching his breath.

 _"_ _Was there something you needed?"_ asked Aaron.

 _"_ _As you might have guessed, there was a bit of a problem with our reviving machine. Team Flare broke into the laboratory there while they distracted us on the stage, and activated it several times. We have fossils set aside in case anyone wishes to purchase one, but we don't have the facilities to care for a Pokémon, and there are no buyers set aside. Then I remembered that we have a number of enterprising trainers right here. How would you like to have your very own fossil Pokémon?"_

 _"_ _Didn't you say that you have to pay for these Pokémon?"_ I asked.

 _"_ _Normally, yes, as the process is quite expensive, but you did us a great favor today. It would be a pleasure to gift them to you."_ The director smiled brilliantly.

 _"_ _Could we see the Pokémon before making a final answer?"_ asked Yang.

 _"_ _Certainly,"_ replied the director. _"_ _Please, follow me."_

He led the eight—nine with Arcanine—of us around to the back. That's when the director seemed to notice Arcanine. _"_ _For security purposes, unauthorized Pokémon aren't allowed in the lab, Miss…?"_

 _"_ _Ruby,"_ she replied. Then she lifted her left leg. _"_ _I don't ride him just for fun."_

The director seemed a little startled, but hurriedly replied, _"_ _Well, I'm sure some exceptions can be given."_

The lab was quite busy, with many scientists running around carrying various slips of paper and pushing around carts of fossils. Computers and filing cabinets lined the walls, and tables were scattered throughout. One scientist came running up and reprimanded Ruby, saying something in Kalosian.

The director replied in Sinnohese, for our convenience. _"_ _It's a service Pokémon. I've already given permission. Could you please step aside?"_

I could see the scientist blushing at his mistake, and stepped aside, letting us through. Finally, we reached the back of the lab where the reviving machine was. On the table nearby was three Poké Balls. Another scientist was running through some notes, and looked up when we arrived.

 _"_ _Director!"_ she exclaimed, fumbling with her papers. _"_ _Are these the trainers you were talking about?"_

 _"_ _Indeed. They wanted a look at the Pokémon before making a final decision."_

She released all three Pokémon. I immediately recognized the first as an Amaura, but it was a very different experience seeing it alive than as bones or in a picture. With a light blue coat and large eyes, it was completely adorable. The second was one I had seen in the aquarium, and it had a brown shell and red beady eyes just underneath the cusp of its shell. It started scuttling around on its six legs. Kabuto, was it? The final Pokémon greatly resembled one of the dinosaurs from our world, called Tyrannosaurus Rex, but in miniature. Perhaps two feet tall, it started chomping its very large jaws. There had been a single fossil of its head out in the museum, but I didn't remember its name.

Ruby slid off of Arcanine and started poking the Kabuto. Whenever she touched it, it would jump back, wait for a few seconds, and then start moving again. "I'm going to call you Spoon," declared Ruby.

"Ruby," I hissed at her, "we haven't even decided to accept them yet."

She just looked at me, and I knew she had already decided everything then and there. I sighed, and glanced over at Yang, who was playing with the Tyrannosaurus Pokémon by sticking out her finger and yanking it back before it could clamp down on her hand. "Quite the set of chompers you got there," she commented.

"That's a perfect name!" exclaimed Ruby. "He's Chomper, and he's Spoon, and that one's Fork!"

"What?" cried Yang.

"No," I said firmly. "Her name–" I paused. _"_ _What gender are these Pokémon?"_ I asked.

 _"_ _The Tyrunt and the Kabuto are male, and the Amaura is female,"_ answered the scientist, who was watching us carefully.

 _"_ _Thank you._ Ruby, her name is not going to be Fork!"

But Ruby had already sidled up to the Amaura and said, _"_ _Hello, Fork."_

The Amaura just blinked back, and blew out a gust of cold air into Ruby's face. Even though some frost had formed, Ruby smiled at the Amaura. _"_ _Nice to meet you too."_

"Ruby, there is no way we are calling one of my Pokémon Fork," I told her.

As soon as I said the word Fork, the Amaura turned its head to me, as if recognizing its name. I groaned. Once again, Ruby had ruined the chance for this Amaura to have an amazing name with her childishness.

Then Blake told the director, _"_ _We'll take them."_

 _"_ _Wonderful! Though I am quite curious, what language are you speaking? I don't believe I've heard it before."_

 _"_ _Valic,"_ answered Yang. _"_ _It's not very common around here, so it's not surprising you haven't heard of it."_

 _"_ _And I'm guessing you named your Pokémon in Valic, then?"_

 _"_ _Yup,"_ said Ruby. Pointing to each Pokémon, she translated the names into Sinnohese, saying, _"_ _That's Spoon, that's Fork, and that's Chomper."_

Cynthia snickered once, and I turned to glare at her. But the director, Palmer, and Barry were laughing outright. _"_ _I'll have you know that I had no part in the naming process,"_ I said.

 _"_ _I believe that settles the matter, then,"_ said the director. _"_ _Once again, thank you all so very much for today. I wish you luck in raising_ Fork _,_ Spoon _,_ _and_ Chomper _."_

 _"_ _And thank you for giving us these wonderful Pokémon,"_ said Yang.

We left, returning to the Pokémon Center. By now, it was about noon, so we ate a quick lunch and waited for Gurkinn to arrive.

At exactly 12:30, Gurkinn arrived, teleporting in with a Pokémon that resembled a top. Eight red eyes encircled the top of its head, and its two arm-like attachments floated close to its body, levitating like the Pokémon itself. He wore a blue sweater and sweatpants, and his massive eyebrows extended on either side of his head, which was mostly bald, except for a small patch of hair on the very top of his head.

 _"_ _So you're the trainers Flint was talkin' about,"_ he said, looking us over. Squinting, he stepped up so his nose was two inches from my face—way too close. But I forced myself not to flinch. From what I had heard about this man, he was among the best trainers of all time. Cynthia herself had trained under him for a year, and Flint six months.

He stepped back and glanced at Ruby. _"_ _Hi there!"_ she said.

 _"_ _I take it you're the girl that's still trainin', even without her leg? You got tenacity, kid."_

He turned to Blake, who stared back at him quietly. Not saying a word, he launched himself at Yang, his fist stopping a quarter of an inch from her nose. He had moved so fast that a rush of wind sent Yang's hair tumbling about behind her, but all she did was turn her back foot so she could take the blow.

 _"_ _Nice reflexes, at least. I got a week to spare. Don't waste it."_

Then his Pokémon spun forward until it was in the center of us all. It kept spinning, until a ring of purple light encircled us, and in a flash, we disappeared.

* * *

 **Blake vs. Claydol**

* * *

In an instant, we were in another place. We were standing in a courtyard before a giant brick tower, and it was raining. I would have liked to admire the way the tower's spires only reached up on one side, but we all hurried into the tower to escape the weather.

 _"_ _Forgot about that,"_ apologized Gurkinn. _"_ _Didn't go outside before I came to get you. But never mind that. You all came here for some trainin'. Flint said somethin' about you girls being aura adepts?"_

We nodded. Weiss raised up her hand and formed an ice crystal, which she tossed to Gurkinn. Yang puffed a small breath of fire, Ruby formed an Air Slash in her hand, and I covered my hand with a Shadow Claw.

Gurkinn just raised his eyebrows. _"_ _I'll admit, I've never seen anythin' like that before. Flint was sayin' that you girls were special. But I'll be the judge of that. I have to see your combat abilities. Yang, I saw the footage of your fight against Beck. We'll review it later. I want to see your friends fight first."_

 _"_ _I can go first,"_ I said. I had been sparring more than anyone else, and I wanted to see what Gurkinn could throw at me.

 _"_ _Very well. You have the option of facin' Ygghod, Gallantia, or Rao."_

I had no idea what kind of Pokémon those were—probably names—but I didn't know if I was supposed to ask about them or not. _"_ _Are you going to tell me anything about them other than their names?"_

Gurkinn shook his head. _"_ _Wise not to rush in without information. But, no, I will not say anythin' more."_

This was just as much a test of my abilities as the actual battle was. I turned to Cynthia. _"_ _Do you know anything about them?"_

 _"_ _I do,"_ she affirmed, _"_ _but I won't say anything either. You're on your own."_

So far, I knew nothing. I knew that Gurkinn had an amazingly powerful Lucario, and he had the Claydol that was hovering beside his head, spinning lazily. I suspected that Lucario might be Gallantia, and I had the sneaking suspicion that Claydol was Ygghod, but I wasn't going to say anything outright yet. _"_ _Is your Claydol or Lucario one of the options?"_

 _"_ _Yes,"_ he answered.

I should have worded the question better, but I didn't have time to dwell on my mistake. I didn't know which one, or if both were options. _"_ _Is Claydol Ygghod?"_ I asked.

I noted both Gurkinn and Claydol's reactions. Gurkinn had the perfect poker face, scrunching his brow as if to give thought to the idea. But Claydol moved slightly to the left. I knew that Claydol had some level of teleportation ability, and as much of a pain as that would be to fight, I preferred the opponent I knew to the one I didn't.

 _"_ _I'll choose Ygghod."_

 _"_ _Why?"_ asked Gurkinn.

 _"_ _Because Ygghod reacted when I said his name, and I know that he can teleport and probably has some spinning attacks. I've been watching him."_

 _"_ _And you are prepared for this?"_

He was asking if I was ready to start now, I could just feel it. So I started charging up a Phantom Force, and replied with, _"_ _I am."_

In the blink of an eye Ygghod was on me, spinning furiously towards me. I slipped into the Phantom Force, appearing behind him, but already he had teleported again, and I jumped up, using my Semblance, forming my Shadow Claw appendages. As a beam of multicolored light blasted by, I leaned back to avoid it, and fired a Hidden Power at its source.

By that time, Ygghod had teleported once more, and barreled towards me in a Drill Run. Once again, I used my Semblance, ducking below it and slashing upwards with an overpowered Shadow Claw.

Gurkinn said something in Kalosian, and Ygghod shone briefly, performing some stat boost. I would have to watch what that did. It was still raining heavily, and there had been no boundaries set for the fight. Mentally I debated the benefits of moving outside and staying inside.

Ygghod now blasted me with psionic energy, and I leapt about, weaving through more Psybeams and Signal Beams. I was now glad that I had asked Aaron about watching footage of previous tournaments and league matches, to get an idea of what kind of techniques were possible. I wouldn't call myself an expert by any means, but during the evenings, I would curl up with my egg and watch footage of battles, noting the many different attacks and learning their names.

Aaron had also lent me a Pokédex, and I had studied that as well. I tried to recall what I knew about Claydol, but other than its Ground and Mind typing, I recalled little else of use. But I could abuse the Mind typing, as it was weak to my Ghost type moveset. I would have been a poor match for a Basic type, as they were functionally immune to most Ghost type moves.

Once more using my Semblance, I charged up a Phantom Force, and shifted outside. Again, I used my Semblance, and left a charging Hidden Power in her hands. Then I Phantom Forced a final time, and charged up another Phantom Force and a large Hidden Power.

This was pulling heavily from the Ghost Gem I had taken with me, in addition to my Semblance. I didn't have time for an extended battle, and with Ygghod's tremendous mobility, I couldn't close the distance or blast with ranged attacks for long. So this was my gambit.

My Semblance clones, up until this point, had always been stationary and unmoving. But for this deception to work, I used one of my new tricks that I had been working on over the past two days. The Hidden Power was being held in place with my Semblance clone, and I had programmed it to launch it at Ygghod when he appeared. I didn't have much practice, but I hoped it was lifelike enough to distract him just this once.

Ygghod teleported in, seeing my clone and the Hidden Power I had charged, and swerved, dodging the incoming projectile. But I was now ready for him. Activating the Phantom Force, I appeared directly above Ygghod and shoved the Hidden Power I had been charging into his head, and, grabbing on with my legs, began an all out Shadow Claw assault.

By now, I was soaking because of the rain, but I didn't care. Ygghod started spinning rapidly, and when I could no longer hold my grasp, I went flying, and expected that I would crash into a wall.

But Ygghod was faster than that, and teleported behind me. Instead of a wall breaking my momentum, the tip of Ygghod's gyrating head dug into my back. That drained the rest of my aura in an instant, and I dropped to the ground, taking several heavy breaths. Chimecho came floating over to me, and instantly, a soothing sensation flowed over me.

 _"_ _Well done,"_ said Gurkinn. _"_ _Clearly, you have a great tactical mindset. Your substitution ability caught me off guard, but Ygghod is quite perceptive. I can see a few avenues for your progress we can talk about later."_

He turned to Ruby. _"_ _Ruby, I'd ask you to fight next, but with your leg, I'm not sure how easy that's going to be."_

 _"_ _I can fight better than you think,"_ retorted Ruby. _"_ _I just need a little booster. It'll just be short."_

Aaron, realizing what she was talking about, sent out Vollord. Palmer continued, _"_ _And when she says short, she means she has to win in less than ten seconds, or she's out of juice."_

 _"_ _Very well,"_ said Gurkinn, _"_ _who do you wish to fight?"_

 _"_ _Got any Air-types?"_

 _"_ _Rao is an Air-type, yes,"_ said Gurkinn. _"_ _That will leave Gallantia to face Weiss."_

Gurkinn sent out Rao, a large Honchkrow. I had seen footage of this Pokémon fight, and it was brutal, living up to its Dark typing. I was glad I didn't have to fight Rao, as it would have been a poor matchup for me. But Ruby would fare much better against him.

Vollord prepared his Tail Glow and Baton Passed it, letting Ruby grab onto it. Immediately her eyes began to glow violently, silver light bathing whatever she looked at. "Weiss, a boost to the roof please."

Weiss obliged, placing a glyph to send Ruby up to the roof, where she would have a much better starting point. Gurkinn was now looked very intrigued, both in Weiss's glyph and in what Ruby was about to do.

Balancing on her one leg, Ruby concentrated for a moment, the light dimming as she closed her eyes. Silvery aura enshrouded her arms, until it extended about ten feet on either side. Then, she leaped forward, arms outstretched.

Ruby flapped her intangible wings, and the aerial dogfight began. She moved first, launching massive waves of wind, upsetting Rao's balance, and then dashed in, lashing out with her wings, using their immense size to batter him around.

But Rao wasn't just taking this passively. He opened his beak and a torrent of dark energy—Dark Pulse—erupted, tearing through one of Ruby's wings. I could see her stagger as she reformed it in midair, and got in closer. Launching several Air Slashes, she landed a few hits, but they didn't seem to do much to the bird.

All in all, the fight so far had lasted maybe five seconds, and already I could see that this was draining Ruby quickly. But Ruby persevered, and covered her body in a white-red energy and placed herself above Rao. Then she dove straight at him, folding her wings behind her as rose petals began to fall to the ground.

She struck Rao head on, and she kicked off of him as he recoiled from the massive hit. I saw the glint of what remained of an Air Gem fall to the ground, disintegrating. Ruby didn't give Rao time to recover, and once again launched a few Air Slashes at him.

But I could see the telltale signs of Rao Roosting, healing away all of the damage she had just inflicted. Ruby wouldn't last more than a couple of more seconds, and she knew it. But that Sky Attack had just taken too much from her, and I doubted she could repeat it.

So Ruby came down and landed on Arcanine's back. _"_ _I'm wiped,"_ she informed us, but we already knew that from the rivulets of sweat running down her face. She needed a scary amount of control just to fly, and to add taxing aura techniques? Ruby couldn't last more than fifteen seconds in a fight. I wondered whether it was worth it to continue training in such an aura expensive technique.

I glanced at Gurkinn. When Ruby had jumped off of the roof, he had flinched, as if he wanted to catch her, and after she started flying, he just watched in amazement. _"_ _Girl, that is one of the most amazin' sights I've ever seen in all my life. And there is no way you're leavin' this place without bein' able to do that for at least a minute."_

Ruby grinned. _"_ _Yeah!"_

 _"_ _Alright—Weiss, it's your turn,"_ said Gurkinn.

She stepped forward, and Gurkinn sent out her opponent.

Contrary to my expectations, Gallantia wasn't his Lucario. Instead, a lively Manectric stood, observing Weiss closely. _"_ _We're goin' to want to step back,"_ warned Gurkinn. _"_ _Gallantia can go a bit overboard sometimes, 'specially in the rain."_

Weiss smiled, and stepped forward. All around her, swirls of ice formed until three solid rings of ice were surrounding her. Then, in her hand, a javelin took form, drawing from the ice she was still creating. She tossed it at Gallantia, who dodged without a problem.

Again, Weiss formed three more javelins, flinging them at Gallantia. She dodged easily, and shot a Thunderbolt across the field.

One of Weiss's ice rings intercepted the electricity and grounded itself. I could see slight wisps of steam rising from the ice, but otherwise the attack had little effect. The ring continued to move, still connected to the ground and still becoming larger.

Gallantia wasn't content to let Weiss build up more ice, and spat a small fireball at her. Weiss reacted instantly, forming an aura shield to protect her ice. The fireball crashed against it, exploding outwards into two smaller fireballs, which also exploded a moment later.

When Gallantia shot three more Flame Bursts at Weiss, she dodged to the side, carrying her ice with her, moving that further away from the Flame Bursts than Weiss did. But I could see trails of ice starting to form on the ground, beginning from where she had first grounded her ice rings.

As they crept across the grass, I saw their destination—the four ice javelins that were still stuck in the ground from earlier. Weiss was probably too far away to control the ice from where she was, but if she had a direct connection, then she could use them without Gallantia knowing.

But Gurkinn also had sharp eyes, and ordered a move. Gallantia generated electricity from her mane and sent it into the ground, and the electricity arced outwards, sending current through Weiss's ice trails.

Weiss reacted immediately, shattering the ice ring connected to the ice trails and showering the miniature shards upon Gallantia, who had to move to dodge the deadly swarm of ice. Jumping closer, Weiss kept up the assault, herding Gallantia back towards the javelins, setting down new ice trails with leftover pieces of ice shards. Then, the ice javelins uprooted themselves, and struck Gallantia from behind. Gurkinn called out in warning, but it was too late. Gallantia tried to electrocute the javelins, but they dodged the Thunderbolts.

But instead of hitting Gallantia herself, the javelins embedded into the ground—one in front of her neck, two on her sides, and one between her back legs. Just as I realized her plan, they melted together and conjoined with the ice rings from Weiss, who was now closing in on the dog, and formed a covering of ice around the Electric-type.

Gallantia's mouth was frozen shut, and though she tried to melt the ice with electricity, Weiss was building up too much ice around her for it to work. I could now see the Ice Gem in her hands, assisting her in her work.

Then Gallantia began to growl, letting the low rumble ripple through the ice. The pitch rose and fell until it hovered at a higher note, and greatly intensified. I could see the ice begin to vibrate, until the whole ice structure around her shattered. Weiss, still distracted from the intense soundwaves, barely had time to regain control of the now fractured ice before Gallantia charged her, sparking with electricity.

Gallantia crashed through the hastily created shield of ice and slammed into Weiss. She went flying, skidding across the ground and bounced a few times before finally coming to a stop near the other wall. Running across the grass, Gallantia placed her jaws around Weiss's neck, signaling her victory.

"Weiss!" exclaimed Ruby. The heiress was twitching from the electricity that had just coursed through her, but Gallantia stepped back and returned to Gurkinn's side.

He dug into his pocket and pulled out a long yellow berry, tossing it to her. _"_ _Here, give her this. It'll help."_

I recognized it as a Wacan Berry, useful for lessening Electric-type damage. Ruby and Arcanine rushed over, and Ruby wrenched open Weiss's jaw, and placed the berry inside. Her jaw clenched up again, but I could see her muscles slowly start to relax.

Gurkinn sighed. _"_ _I'd say we should start trainin' immediately, but those who just finished a fight can rest for an hour. We'll start you afterward."_

He grinned, gesturing to the Sinnoh natives. _"_ _In the meanwhile, I've got to check up on these four."_

* * *

 **Yang vs. Riolu**

* * *

The testing for the other four went a bit differently, as Gurkinn just sparred with them. Watching his movements was like watching a master—not a single breath was wasted, and he would take apart each of them by pushing them to their limits. But I could see why he hadn't fought any of us. We were just too powerful for him. That was likely because Gurkinn didn't display anything that hinted at his aura being unlocked.

Cynthia and Aaron lasted the longest, and I could see hints of Blake's style hidden in their movements, which made me smile. Future Blake had quite an impression on Cynthia, and Aaron had been learning most of his fighting style from Blake, but it was still funny to see.

But Barry's fight was the most impressive, as he pulled out a Water Gem and started using minor water attacks to battle, but Gurkinn quickly adapted, and Barry was defeated. Through no fault of his own, Barry's water techniques just weren't powerful enough yet. But to already have that much control over his element after just five days was astounding and…enough spouting about Barry's skills.

Heh.

Afterwards, Gurkinn sat down with us to learn what some of the mechanics of our aura techniques. He was especially interested in my glowing hair, Blake's substitutions, and Weiss's glyph. In other words, our Semblances. I briefly explained what they were, but it wasn't until Weiss interjected and told him that Cynthia's Lucario had said that it was called Realization that his eyes widened.

 _"_ _Realization, for all four of you?"_ he asked, flabbergasted.

 _"_ _It's expected that we develop a_ Semblance _, where we are from,"_ said Weiss. _"_ _But it makes me wonder: is it that because we're humans that Realization is easy, but for Pokémon it's not?"_

 _"_ _I'd never thought of it like that,"_ mused Gurkinn. _"_ _Whatever the case, I'm here to train you. But you said something about unlocking auras?"_

I nodded. _"_ _It's how we can use our aura, and how they're using it now."_

 _"_ _And you can unlock anyone's aura?"_

 _"_ _Well, yes. I don't think you unlocked yours yourself, so we could do that for you?"_

 _"_ _So it's possible to unlock it yourself?"_

Ruby nodded. _"_ _That's how I did it, and that's how we think your aura adepts did it."_

 _"_ _Then you're in luck, because I just started trainin' a new aura adept. Ygghod, could you retrieve Loïc for me?"_

Ygghod spun once and disappeared, reappearing a second later with a young boy. Dressed in a similar outfit to Gurkinn, he looked to be no older than twelve. A Riolu stood by his side, peeking out from behind Loïc's legs at us.

 _"_ _Loïc, meet Ruby, Weiss, Blake, and Yang. They are aura adepts."_

 _"_ _Like me?"_ asked the boy with wide eyes.

 _"_ _Not exactly,"_ said Gurkinn. He glanced at me, and I took the chance to show off. I tongue of flame appeared in my hand, and then started swirling up my arm, until it reached my head, where it appeared as a crown of fire. Then I let it burn out.

 _"_ _Woah,"_ breathed Loïc. _"_ _Am I going to learn how to do that?"_

 _"_ _Probably not,"_ I told him. _"_ _It has to do with what your Hidden Power type is?"_

 _"_ _You mean I have a Hidden Power type?"_ asked Loïc.

Weiss nodded. _"_ _From what we can tell, yours is probably Fighting, because you unlocked your aura on your own."_

 _"_ _What do you mean, on my own?"_ asked Loïc.

Weiss glanced at me, and I at Gurkinn. _"_ _Feel like becoming an aura adept?"_ I asked.

 _"_ _I would honored,"_ answered Gurkinn. I was about to volunteer to do it, because I hadn't used up any aura yet today, but then Weiss spoke up.

 _"_ _Barry, how would you like to learn how to unlock auras?"_

He perked up. With Weiss's guidance, he started the process, and when the time came, began to utter his words. _"_ _For it is in dedication that we achieve immortality. Through this, we become a paragon of continuous progress to rise above all, infinite in reach and unbound by completion. I release your soul, and by my shoulder protect thee."_

Barry's orange aura flared, and Gurkinn's steel blue aura reacted, covering him for all of a moment. Then, their auras faded from sight, leaving Barry exhausted. _"_ _That was…more tiring…than I thought…it would be,"_ he huffed.

 _"_ _I feel…strangely calm,"_ said Gurkinn. _"_ _Also energized."_

 _"_ _That will wear off after a few days,"_ said Cynthia. _"_ _But it feels so incredible."_

Gurkinn closed his eyes for a moment, and his whole body glowed. For maybe ten seconds, he just stood there, until he opened his eyes. A construct of aura flashed in and out of existence, surrounding Gurkinn for a brief moment. _"_ _I see what you mean about Realization,"_ said Gurkinn.

I just stared. Whenever someone activated their aura, they had the ability to use their Semblance, but it would take effort to manifest it properly. Less than a minute after his aura had been unlocked, Gurkinn had manifested his Semblance, even if it had been for a fraction of a second.

He closed his eyes again, and began channeling aura into his hand. A small sphere appeared in the shape of a Hidden Power, though it was lopsided, and dissipated before it could take form. But Gurkinn tried again, and this time, it worked. A perfectly formed Hidden Power sat in his hand, and he looked down, evaluating it. Then he started laughing.

 _"_ _I feel so alive right now,"_ he chortled. That's when he noticed we were all staring at him. _"_ _Is somethin' wrong?"_

Weiss delicately explained that he had accomplished more in a minute than any of the other four had in five days.

He laughed again, and replied, _"_ _Beware the crafty old men."_

After that, he set about starting us on our training. He asked me, _"_ _What do you think your greatest combat strength is?"_

 _"_ _I'm a close range fighter,"_ I answered, _"_ _but my greatest combat strength is to use the damage I take to fight back."_

Gurkinn raised one of his ridiculous eyebrows. _"_ _What do you mean by that?"_

 _"_ _You saw the recording of my fight, right?"_ When he nodded, I continued. _"_ _After Camerupt slammed me into the wall, my hair started glowing, right? That's my Semblance. When I take hits, I can absorb the damage they do to me and add that to my strength. That's why my next two hits were so powerful."_

 _"_ _That is an incredibly potent ability,"_ said Gurkinn. _"_ _But what are the drawbacks?"_

 _"_ _I still take the damage—my Semblance doesn't affect that. If it's too powerful a blow, I can still be overpowered. And it works through my hair. That's why I wear it so long. If it were cut, I would absorb less damage."_

 _"_ _Aside from your Realization, what is your greatest weakness?"_

That was a hard question. _"_ _I don't have a good long range option,"_ I admitted, but I don't think that was quite the answer he was looking for.

 _"_ _What was the biggest mistake you made against Bellossom?"_

Biggest implied I had made more than one mistake. _"_ _I got too close, allowing her to get me with her powder ability. If I had stayed at mid range, I would have dodged that."_

 _"_ _There is that,"_ said Gurkinn. _"_ _But you also underestimated how much damage she could do to you in a single blow. Granted, she used her most powerful technique—Leaf Storm—as a finisher, but she controlled that fight much better than you did."_

I thought back over the fight. Her opening move had been to expel the powder, limiting the area I could move in. Bellossom seemed to be most comfortable at mid range, so she had restricted my ability to move out of her range. Then I had moved in close, giving her a chance to blast me with whatever that pink attack had been. _"_ _Oh, what was the pink energy move she used?"_

 _"_ _It's a Fairy-type move called Moonblast, and has a chance to lower your special attack stat,"_ he answered. _"_ _Did you feel the debuff?"_

I nodded. It had been scary to feel my connection to my aura weaken, but I hadn't had any time to dwell on it during the fight. Bellossom had probably used Moonblast for the specific purpose of nabbing a debuff, even if it wasn't a perfect chance. But it had also served to make me a little angry and charge in close where she could paralyze me. I had fallen for that, even if Bellossom had come out injured.

But even that had mattered little. She had probably gauged the strength of my flames with my attempt at clearing the powder in the air, and had then acted on faith. After that it was just waiting until I was unable to move properly to get in close with the draining move. I had recovered in time to roast her once more, but she had just finished me off after that. Bellossom had been quite the opponent, and I had the feeling she had been holding back, too. Camerupt had already been acting before he had fully recovered, and I suspected he could have defeated me if he really had wanted to.

All in all, it was another wake up call. I hadn't really won a fight since the Paladin fight against Torchwick, and even then, he had escaped. I had lost against Neo—I had lost against the Goliath—and now, even now, I was still losing. When would this cycle of losing end? When would I be strong enough? Blake's comment from the beginning of the semester came back to me—"And we may never _be_ ready. Our enemies, they're out there, and they're coming for us." Or something like that.

At the same time, it felt like we were just waiting around for something to happen. Sure, we had fought off the Grimm that had come through the portal, but it felt like something was missing. Or that something was supposed to go wrong. Not that anything needed to go wrong, but it was just a feeling.

Additionally, as amazing as the people and the Pokémon here were, I was starting to miss Beacon. A lot of things had been thrown at us, and I just wanted a chance to relax. The training we were doing felt…aimless. We didn't have a goal, beyond 'get stronger' and 'go home'. And we had even passed up a chance at the latter for more of the former.

If there was one thing that was giving me hope for the future, it was Blake's experience _in_ the future. Future Blake had been alive, and while she hadn't given away any 'spoilers', Blake had spotted a number of things on her trip there, the main hint being the sketch she had seen on the wall. Apparently I was supposed to get a very noticeable scar on my left arm, but the important thing was that we were all alive.

That still didn't dispel the nagging feeling in my gut that we were missing something big. That we had overlooked something in our pursuits. The Team Flare incident at the museum earlier had me on edge, as well. Something about them made me wonder what they were trying to do. They had mentioned something about a Genesect Project, but that was something I had no knowledge of.

My hand drifted down to Chomper's Poké Ball. I hadn't had a chance to meet with him yet, but I was going to try and get to know him tonight. I could at least have a working relationship with my Pokémon.

I was still a little hesitant about the whole trainer idea, but Hosaki was fun to be around, and Chomper was cute, too. Weiss had seemed to warm to the idea the fastest, and she was quite proud of her two Ice-types that she was training.

But it made me wonder. What would we do with our Pokémon when we went back? Would we leave them behind, or would we take them with us? Would they want to join in our missions? What about loneliness? They would be the only Pokémon on a planet full of Grimm.

 _"_ _Yang, are you still there?"_ I shook myself from my thoughts. Right here and now, I had my objective set. I could dwell on this later.

 _"_ _Yeah. Let's do this."_

* * *

 **A/N: We're off to visit Kalos, the wonderful land of Kalos. Some new things happening. Like adorbs fossils. Also Gurkinn. He's fun.**


End file.
